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THE 

MECHANIC'S TOOL BOOK, 

WITH 

PRACTICAL RULES AND SUGGESTIONS 

FOB U8E OF 

MACHINISTS, IRON-WORKERS, 

AND OTHERS. 



BY W. B. V HARRISON, 

Associate Editor of the " American Artisan. 1 




A 



NEW YORK: 

D. VAN NOSTRAND, 192 BROADWAY. 

1868. 






**• 



Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 

D. VAN NOSTRAND, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern Distriot of 

New York. 



J. H. Tobitt, Printer, 
350 Pearl street, New York 






I c f 



PEEPACE. 

It is an old saying that " no two mechanics work alike ;" 
and it needs but a slight observance of the different modes 
of working to verify the truth of this proverb. One man 
will handle his files, hammer, and gauges as if " to the 
manner born," while others are unhandy and awkward, 
and will always be so no matter how long they may work 
at their calling. Some mechanics are remarkable to origi- 
nate and adapt tools to various purposes, while others can 
copy after the experts only in a very bungling manner. 
In many shops, particularly the jobbing machine-shop, a 
readiness to adapt with celerity whatever tools there are 
for the purpose intended to be effected, is a rare and valu- 
able quality in mechanics, and such men are not to be easily 
found. When once having seen an operation it is very 
easy to " go and do likewise," and it is for the benefit of 
those who can copy but not originate methods of working 
that we propose to embody in this book the experience of 
a mechanic as compiled in a series of commonplace notes, 
well knowing that some of the items and descriptions are 



IV PREFACE. 



simple and perhaps well known to many ; yet there may 
be some who have not the benefit of even this simple 
knowledge, and to them we hope to give occasional hints 
that may be of practical use and benefit. 



CONTENTS. 



Careoftools 9 

Files and filing 14 

Filing a flat surface 21 

Vise fixtures and attachments 29 

Thedrift 33 

Cold chisels 41 

Gauges, callipers, dividers, etc 43 

Standard gauges for screws 50 

The angle of 60° 53 

Lathe turning tools 58 

Care of the lathe and its adjuncts 65 

Application of lathe appliances 69 

Lathe chucks 74 

Eccentric and concentric chucks 82 

Saws and rotary cutters 86 

To make rotary cutters 89 

To cut a rack in the lathe 92 

To cut off metal tubes in the lathe 94 

Nicking screws in the lathe 96 

Drill chucks 99 

Drills 104 

Twist drills Ill 

Boringtools 116 

The boring bar 121 

Reamers 126 

To cut or groove reamers 130 

A gear-cutting arrangement 134 



Vi CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

To make an index plate 138 

A miniature planer 143 

Wire -straightening 147 

Wire-cutting 150 

Coiling wire for springs, rings, etc 155 

Rule and hinge joints 161 

To make a knurl 165 

To make a metal tube 168 

Production of irregular forms 170 

Clamped dies 173 

Duplicating irregular forms 177 

To turn a taper 180 

Production of cylindrical surfaces 184 

Grinding of cylindrical surfaces 188 

Grinding internal cylindrical surfaces...., 194 

Fitting external and internal cylinders by grinding 198 

Grinding conical surfaces 201 

Production of spherical surfaces ... 205 

Grinding spherical surfaces 209 

Grinding plane surfaces 213 

The milling machine 217 

Milling machine cutters , . 220 

Selecting steel for tools 224 

Forging and welding steel 227 

Expansion and contraction of steel 231 

Annealing of steel 234 

Hardening of steel 237 

Hardening and tempering steel tools 240 

Tempering steel in the lead bath 244 

Tempering springs 247 

Damascus steel . 250 

Case hardening 253 

Bolt nuts . . 257 

Form of bolt nuts ... . 260 

Bott heads and nuts ., * 263 



CONTENTS. Vll 

PAGH 

Dipping acid for brass 266 

Preservation of metallic surfaces 268 

Mother of pearl 271 

Pearl inlaying 275 



CARE OF TOOLS- 9 



OAEE OF TOOLS. 

As regards the general care of tools, it cannot 
be too strongly enjoined on the mechanic, and 
particularly the iron-worker, to keep his tools 
neat, clean, and in order. To the observer this 
gives the mechanic an appearance of being a good 
workman when perhaps he has only medium skill. 
To the initiated a "workman is known by the 
chips he makes ;" to the uninitiated an idea that 
the operator is a good workman may be conveyed 
by the appearance of the tools he sees the work- 
man using. If screw-taps and dies are gummed 
up with a poor quality of oil and dirt, and covered 
with a hardened layer of some oleaginous com- 
pound ; if hammers are rusty and with faces cov- 
ered with careless nicks and fitted with ill-shaped 
and broken handles; if scribers are blunt and 
badly ground, or perhaps the shank of an old file 
used for this instrument ; if cold-chisels are made 
very much like old shanks taken at random from 
the scrap-pile, and litter, dirt, tools and fragments 
are clustered together in a close agglomeration, it 
will convey about the same idea to the observer 

that a beggar in tattered habiliments would in the 

A2 



10 mechanic's tool book. 

parlor of a prince. Every one would feel a great 
desire to either eject the intruder from the apart- 
ment or at once leave the place himself. We give 
this as the first hint of instruction to mechanics, 
and particularly the young mechanic who is just 
commencing his sphere of future usefulness : see 
that your tools are made in a neat and workman- 
like manner, and cultivate order in the arrange- 
ment of them upon the bench or their place of de- 
posit. If, upon entering a machine-shop, we see 
the tools scattered in confusion upon the work- 
bench, where they are usually deposited, and ob- 
serve that they are rusty and dirty, and mingled 
with the debris which will collect around the vise, 
and that portions of work upon which the mecha- 
nic is engaged are indiscriminately piled around 
and upon his tools, we soon feel distrust of any 
very great ability of the workman, although he 
may prove expert in his occupation. 

We have seen mechanics work in a manner that 
plainly indicated that they cared little whether 
they had proper tools or not ; and the impression 
produced was that some workmen care as little for 
the reputation of the product of their labors as 
they do about their tools. If we examine the 
tools of such mechanics, we find that the hammer- 
faces are full of nicks and dents, and the handles 
are battered and badly shaped, and that the 
gauges and more delicate tools are as ill-kept as 
the hammers ; and it may be taken for granted 



CARE OF TOOLS. 11 

that the work of such men generally corresponds 
with their tools. 

In addition to keeping tools neat and in order, 
the mechanic ought to really love his tools and re- 
gard them with a kind of pride — the same as the 
sailor feels proud of the ship in which he sails, and 
the artilleryman values the gun which he "serves." 
But so often do we see the opposite of this spirit, 
that affection for tools may be considered the ex- 
ception rather than the rule ; and instead of a care 
being exercised to keep tools as they ought to 
be kept, they are thrown about like old iron. 
Instead of laying them carefully aside when the 
hours of labor cease, we see them left scattered 
upon the work-bench or thrown carelessly into the 
drawer, and the files, chisels, reamers, squares and 
straight-edges are mingled in confusion, bruising, 
indenting, and injuring each other. 

Perhaps these mechanics feel interest enough in 
their labor to purchase the necessary hand tools, 
such as gauges, callipers, fitting squares, etc. ; but 
we often find workmen with no tools, and when 
engaged upon their work they manage to "get 
along" without tools, or they borrow those of 
some brother mechanic whose vise or place of ope-, 
rations is in their immediate vicinity. 

All the small bench or hand tools that we have 
mentioned, which are generally used upon alt 
knub of work, ought to belong to the mechanic 
who uses them ; and if he does not possess them, 
and his means will not allow him to p\*rchase a 



12 mechanic's tool book. 

full set of first class-instruments, and lie hesitates 
between a few good ones or many of a poorer 
quality, we say, unhesitatingly, that he ought to 
choose the former, and add to the supply as his 
means may increase. A set of good tools will last 
for a lifetime, while a set of poor tools can at no 
time be relied upon for exactness, and soon become 
worn out 

A mechanic ought to make all the small tools 
which he is capable of making ; and these can be 
completed at odd hours, or in the intervals of work 
when he would be idle, as at morning, noon, and 
night ; and in a short time he will be in possession 
of many tools of a better quality than those he can 
purchase at the hardware stores. The material for 
these tools will cost but a trifle, and can be easily 
obtained. Work upon such tools should not be per- 
formed in a hurried or careless manner ; but should 
be done in a careful and workmanlike style ; and 
then the mechanic will have samples of his skill 
and efficiency of which he will not be ashamed ; 
and if at any time he be called upon for reference 
as to his mechanical ability, he can exhibit those 
tools as a proof of expertness. 

Manufacturers very much dislike to see their 
operatives "tinkering" over tools and in many 
cases it is of no use to allow it, while in others a 
little stimulant in this direction will be of advan- 
tage to both mechanic and employer. A liberal- 
minded employer would not object to his operative 
using a few shillings' worth of stock to make a few 



CARE OF TOOLS. 13 

tools in his leisure moments which are to be used 
in the production of manufactured articles for the 
employer, nor would an honest-minded mechanic^ 
take the time belonging to his employer for the 
manufacture of the tools he intends to be consid- 
ered his own private property. 



14 mechanic's tool book. 



FILES AND PILING. 

As the file is a tool of universal use among many 
classes of mechanics, and more especially those 
who work in iron, it may be well to give a few 
hints to those who are not thoroughly initiated in 
its use. Of the diversity of files and their adapt- 
ability to different processes we will say nothing, 
supposing that to be sufficiently understood. 

The work to be filed should be elevated in the 
vise or fastened by some means at a hight a little 
below the elbow as the operator stands erect. The 
reason of this is obvious. As the file-handle is 
grasped in the right hand and the point of the file 
in the left hand, the arms can hang in a more nat- 
ural position, and as the file is thrust forward and 
brought back for a repetition of the thrust, the 
movement is made in a horizontal line with 
greater facility than if the elbows were required 
to be raised to make the stroke of the file in the 
line parallel with the line of the work. The file 
has not the guide principle as the carpenter's plane 
has, and the movement of the file must be accom- 
plished by the position and movement of the elbow. 
The most natural movement of the hand and el-. 



FILES AND FILING. 15 

bow are in circular lines, the joints of the limbs 
being the centre of motion, but in filing a flat sur- 
face the hands must be trained to move in right 
lines. 

The mechanic should select good, well-propor- 
tioned handles for his files ; disdain everything 
that pretends to be " fancy." Handles are best 
made of well-seasoned maple with strong brass or 
iron ferrules. The file shank ought to be inserted 
into the handle in which it is held nearly the entire 
length of the shank. The handles as purchased, 
are usually bored with a hole for the reception of 
the file shank, but when they are not so bored the 
mechanic is necessitated to do it himself. If a 
small gimblet or bit be used to bore with, it is es- 
sential to observe that it enters the handle at the 
exact center of the circumference of the ferrule, 
and that the hole is kept true and central in the 
handle as the bit advances. This can be ascer- 
tained by letting the handle turn in the hand as 
the boring progresses, the hold of the bit upon the 
wood being sufficient to admit of its so doing. 
As the file shank is made of a taper form, it is 
quite necessary that the hole in the handle be 
made to correspond, and a taper reamer will form 
it accurate enough to receive the shank. Do not 
let a file shank be inserted in the handle up to the 
shoulder of the file ; for it will soon become loose 
and the shank will no longer wedge into the wood, 
but if a space of about one-half or three-fourths of 
an inch be between the handle and the file shoul- 



16 mechanic's tool book. 

ders, no immediate apprehensions of looseness 
need be anticipated. 

Some mechanics heat the shank of an old file, 
and with it burn into the handle to shape a place 
for the reception of the file shank, but such a prac- 
tice betokens a Slovenish workman and is very de- 
trimental to the wear of the handle, for by the 
wood being charred in the process of burning, it 
is rendered very brittle, and the handle soon splits 
with even ordinary usage and must then be thrown 
away. If the mechanic seeks to retain the split 
handle, or mends it by inserting a screw or wind- 
ing it with wire or cord so as to make it subservient 
to his purpose, it has a botched and unsightly ap- 
pearance, and is a very unsatisfactory handle after 
all. 

We have seen on a workman's bench two dozen 
or more files of different sizes, and used for differ- 
ent kinds of work, and with each kind or size of 
file there was a handle wholly differing from its 
fellows. We might enumerate that we observed 
in this lot of files one or two passable handles, one 
or two chisel handles, two or three which were de- 
signed for the awls of shoemakers, some made 
from pieces of a broken broom-stick, as many taken 
from a rough limb, denuded of its bark, one or 
two whittled from a pine stick, the product of the 
pocket-knife of the apprentice, and thrown away 
by him as useless, and — not a new application — 
some of the handles were actually formed of corn- 
cobs. It might be that a workman would produce 



FILES AND FILING. 17 

as good work with file handles of this character as 
with well-turned and good-ferruled ones, but 
where the latter are employed it gives a neater 
look to the bench ; and certainly the workman will 
operate as expeditiously and as well with good 
tool appliances as with poor ones. If the expert 
or apprentice would cultivate a disposition for 
neatness and exactness in his work, he may begin 
with his tools and appliances, and his file and 
other handles are very good things to commence 
with. 

If a file-handle becomes split or broken, throw 
it aside and replace it with another. Do not use 
pieces of a broom-handle, or bits of small limbs 
denuded of their bark, as we often see done ; files 
botched up in this way have a sorry appearance and 
give the look of a " slouchy" workman. Use 
handles appropriate and proportioned to the tools 
for which they are intended, take time and care to 
fit them properly, and experience will testify that 
they will give better results and last longer, prov- 
ing that "haste makes waste" even in the small 
matter of fitting a file handle. 

Learn to keep your filing-vise clean and files in 
a neat row beside the vise according to their re- 
spective sizes. When you begin to use a set of 
new files mark one side of them with white chalk, 
reserving the chalked side to finish any nice piece 
of work with where a sharp file is wanted. Always 
have a set of files for the different kinds of metals 
you work upon. When files do not cut brass with 



18 mechanic's tool book. 

facility, they may then be employed to cut cast- 
iron, wrought-iron, and, lastly, steel ; but if put 
upon steel or iron first, they are worthless for cut- 
ting brass. The surface-scale of metals, particu- 
larly cast-iron, should be removed before a good 
file is put upon it, as this scale will instantly de- 
stroy the cutting-edge of the file-teeth. It is 
equally injurious to files to admit of pressure on 
the file when it is being drawn back for the for- 
ward thrust ; good filers always raise the file from 
contact with the work when they draw it back, and 
lay it gently upon the surface to ensure the correct 
position, and then apply the needful force to make 
the cutting-thrust. 

In the finishing of the bright-work of tools and 
machinery two methods of filing are employed : — 
polishing and draw-filing. The former method 
was at one time very prevalent, but of late years, 
especially upon heavy machinery, has been dis- 
carded, and a finish by the latter method adopted. 
To the uninitiated and ignorant the glare pro- 
duced by polishing is paramount as a finish, but 
the educated mechanic views it with as much dis- 
dain as the enlightened mind regards the sham 
baubles that please the eye of an aborigine. Pol- 
ishing, as compared with the process of draw-fil- 
ing, is a cheap method of finishing-up tools and 
machinery, and as a general thing it is only the 
cheaper class of machine-work that is thus finished, 
and a piece of mechanism which is glistening from 



FILES AND FILING. 19 

the application of polishing- wheels is open to sus- 
picion as work of inferior merit. 

Some labor as well as skill is required to produce 
a well draw-tiled surface, while almost any cheap 
labor will suffice to operate a polishing apparatus. 
Patience in the former method rewards us with an 
exterior which is soon learned to be appreciated, 
and the mechanic who produced it will look upon 
his work with evident satisfaction. On observing 
a mechanic at work and seeing him place his file 
transversely across the piece of metal upon which 
he is operating, and then grasp it at each end and 
move it over the surface to be finished, the opera- 
tion seems very simple and one which any one can 
perform ; but let the tyro try to do it and he will 
find that the finish which he produces is quite dif- 
ferent from what he attempts to accomplish. In- 
stead of the clean, smooth dead surface, contain- 
ing thousands of minute parallel lines formed by 
the action of the file- teeth, he will find that his 
finished surface is full of crossed lines, and marred 
at frequent intervals by little ragged scratches 
which he can scarcely account for. To avoid the 
crossing of these minute lines practice to carry 
the hands over the work in the same parallel lines 
is requisite, and to avoid scratches requires a deli- 
cacy of touch and feeling not so easily acquired, 
but which instantly tells the mechanic when any 
foreign matter or filings remain interposed be- 
tween the file and the work, and which if not re- 



20 mechanic's tool book. 

moved produce injury that will take some time to 
eradicate. 

To the educated mechanical eye there is no finer 
finish than that of draw-filing. Small tools and 
machinery, like sewing machines and jeweler's 
tools, it may be advisable to polish, but for larger 
work, such as lathes and engines, the file finish is 
far preferable. 




Mg.l. 

Draw- filing is done by holding the file in a 
transverse line with the work, and then drawing it 
back and forth over the surface to be operated up- 
on. Work finished in this way has a very neat 
finish and appearance. To clean the files when 
clogged with the debris of the work, use a wire 
brush or a thin piece of sheet-brass which may be 
drawn through the cut of the teeth, and it will 
effectually clean them ; a better instrument is a 
piece of cotton card fastened to a bit of wood, and 
drawn across the file in the direction of the teeth, 
the hook-form of card-teeth forming a ready means 
of cleaning the file of the dirt and filings. The 
files used by wood-workers may be cleaned in the 
same manner. 



FILING A FLAT SURFACE. 21 



FILING A FLAT SUEFAOE. 

The proof of a good filer is his ability to file a 
flat surface perfectly true ; and in this, simple as 
the operation may seem, there are but few adepts. 
It would seem at first thought that a file made 
perfectly straight and true ought to produce a 
corresponding true surface, but a file with a per- 
fectly true surface is seldom met with, for by the 
operation of cutting the teeth and hardening and 
tempering all files are apt to spring and warp more 
or less. It is on this account that the common 
kinds of files are made with convex faces, and also 
wider in the middle than at the ends. Granted 
that files could be made perfectly true, as in the 
using of them there is no guiding principle, noth- 
ing except skill to direct the muscular action of 
limbs that move in arcs of circles, another great 
difficulty presents itself, yet by patient persever- 
ance a pretty true surface may be obtained. The 
best instruction to be given is to lay the file lightly 
on the surface of the work, concentrate the mind 
on the object to be attained, and then with a slow 
and steady force move the file in a right line, as 
near as possible coinciding with that the file oc- 



22 mechanic's tool book. 

cupied before it was moved over the surface of 
the metal, avoiding a rocking motion. Care and 
practice are the only guiding requisites to pro- 
duce a level surface with the file. 




Fig. 2. 

Many kinds of work may be partially rotated to 
compensate for the swaying of the file, by fixing 
the material to be filed between centers so as 
to turn easily, and the centers of the machinist's 
lathe presents a ready means for this purpose. If 
we have a spindle which has been nicely turned 
and finished in the lathe, and through this spindle 
we wish to make a mortise or key-way, we can 
commence by drilling several small holes within 
the prescribed limits of the mortise, and then cut 
out the intervening metal between the holes with 
a narrow cold-chisel, then support the spindle be- 
tween the centers of the lathe, and the mortise can 
be easily and nicely filed to the desired form and 
limit. 

If it be desired to make a key-way of some 
length, directly in a line parallel with the axis of 
the spindle or shaft, the lines to guide the diame- 



FILING A FLAT SURFACE. 



23 



ter of the mortise may be made thus : place the 
spindle between the centers of a feed lathe in the 
same manner as when it was turned, and screw up 
the dead center so that the work will not rotate 
easily upon its axis ; then place a sharp-pointed 
tool in the tool post of the lathe, and with the 
hand- wheel attached to the lathe-feed ran the point 
of the tool along the surface of the spindle as far 
as the intended mortise is to be made ; then turn 
the spindle or shaft between the centers until the 
tool-point will mark the opposite diameter of the 
mortise, and run a line parallel with the first line ; 
by turning the spindle a half revolution, and re- 
peating the lines on the side presented to the tool- 
point, the outline of the opposite side of the mor- 
tise is made. 

There are many kinds of work in thin metal that 
it is necessary to nicely finish up ; metal patterns 
for foundery use may be mentioned as an example, 
and, often being thin and delicate, will not admit 
of being inserted in the vise to be held for manipu- 
lation. These may be operated as follows : — Fit a 




Fig. 3. 

board or piece of hard wood in the lathe in such a 
way that the line of the centers will be in the same 



24 mechanic's tool book. 

plane with the surface of the board. This can be 
done by nailing two cleats upon the ends of the 
board, the centers finding a bearing in the cleats ; 
then fasten the work to this board by means of 
small nails, and as the file is applied it will oscil- 
late sufficient to present its surface properly to 
the surface of the file, and by having the centers 
upon which the board hangs on a line with the sur- 
face of the work upon which the file is engaged 
the work will have no tendency to rotate by the 
applied force of the file. 

The methods by which the work can be held to 
this tool for manipulation are various. Clamps 
similar to those shown in Fig. 4 may be applied, or 
holes may be made in various positions, and the 
work can be held by the heads of screws which fit 
into these holes, or if the work be very thin, as 
sheet-brass, iron, or steel, small tacks may be 
driven into the wood at suitable distances around 
the surface of the work, but in contact so as to re- 
tain it in place. 

The usual method of holding forms of sheet- 
metal, such as patterns for various articles or the 
articles themselves, is to place a block of wood or 
a piece of plank between the jaws of the vise, and 
upon the smooth upper surface of this block in- 
sert a number of pieces of wire, or even small 
nails, which shall so hold or retain the work that 
it may be operated upon by the files or polishing 
implements, as is required. Where the articles are 
small, and there is a quantity of them, it will 



FILING A FLAT SURFACE. 25 

pay, perhaps, to fit up a wooden block ; yet, even 
when so fitted, it is by no means a perfect method 
of holding* work. Where the articles to be wrought 
upon are large and of various shapes and charac- 
ters, and especially if they are very thin, it takes 
some time to arrange and fasten them upon the 
wooden blocks. 

The cut represents a tool designed to hold work 
of this character. It is made of cast-iron, and 
when viewed from one of its ends is of a T-form, 




Fig. 4. 

and its length or size is proportionate to its in- 
tended use. The lower or vertical portion is in- 
tended to be held between the jaws of the vise, 
and the flat surface of the upper part is nicely and 
evenly planed to receive the work when placed 
upon it. Two stout straps, made of iron or steel, 
are fitted to slide upon the projecting sides, and 
can be confined in any place upon the flat surface 
of the tool by means of set screws, which are in- 
serted at the under side of the implement at each 
end of the sliding strap. If it be so desired, these 
straps upon the side where they come in contact 



26 mechanic's tool book. 

with the plate, can have teeth cut upon them sim- 
ilar to the teeth of a file, and they will then hold 
the work very secure ; but for finished work 
smooth straps must be used, as these teeth would 
indent the surface and mar the finish of the work, 
(t might be well, "perhaps, to have two sets of 
these straps. If the surface of the tool be left a 
<ittle rough, as the tool of the planer would leave 
it, and as the line of the cut runs longitudinally, 
\t will assist materially to hold the work in place. 

When the work to be operated upon is confined 
at each end, the middle portion of it is left free for 
manipulation ; and when that portion is finished, 
one of the straps can be moved to clasp this por- 
tion, and the unfinished part can then be wrought 
upon ; and when that is finished, the strap can be 
moved to its former place, and the other strap 
moved and the remaining portion of the work fin- 
ished in like manner. 

A modification of this tool can be adjusted to 
the drill press where a series or a great number of 
holes are to be made in irregular forms of sheet- 
metal, and it is necessary that the operator use 
both hands, as would be the case if it were a plate 
of steel, the workman feeding the drill with one 
hand and supplying oil with the other. It it be 
desired to turn or otherwise work sheet-metal, 
this tool can be easily held or confined by means 
of an eccentric or independent jawed chuck, having 
either two or four jaws, so that it will revolve, 
and its position or the position of the work can be 



FILING A FLAT SURFACE. 27 

so changed that any part can be reached with the 
turning tool, or whatever tool may be brought to 
bear upon it, as in case of an ornamental pattern 
with bosses, swells, or other forms to be turned or 
finished. If the work be a pattern which is to be 
chased or engraved, this tool presents a ready 
means of holding it for that purpose. 

It is also a very convenient as well as useful tool 
to hold their plates or work made of their material 
that are to be polished or finished with a buff-stick, 
or by means of emery paper which may be wrapped 
around a file for that purpose. It is almost need- 
less to add that when this tool is made of iron or 
other metal, the upper surface where the work is 
confined must be planed and finished quite true 
and even. 

If the work be of such a nature as to demand it, 
or it be of such form that other than a plane sur- 
face is required, a piece of hard wood can be fas- 
tened to the upper surface of the tool by means of 
screws, and it can then be shaped to fit and receive 
the work. Pieces of metal of different forms can 
be also attached in the same manner. Sometimes 
soft metal, as type metal or lead, can be moulded 
to fit the work, and these castings can be attached 
to the tool by screws or by the clamps in the same 
way that work is held. 

There is much need of a tool to be used by the 
filer and pattern-maker which will operate upon 
the principle of the lathe-centers in the operations 
we have just described. It might be made like a 



28 MECHANIC S TOOL BOOK. 

short lathe-bed of about two feet in length, with 
two heads similar to the sliding head of a lathe, 
each head to be fitted with steel centers similar to 
lathe-centers. The work then could be inserted in 
it in the same manner as we have described in the 
lathe. If it be desired to file the edge of flat sur- 
faces at an angle, the work can be fastened to a 
metal plate or a piece of board and elevated to the 
desired angle, and will be in a ready position for 
the easy use of the file. In centering a piece of 
work preparatory to turning it in the lathe, it is 
the common practice to confine the work in the 
vise, mark the center as near as possible, judging 
by the eye, and then insert the work in the lathe, 
and by revolving it with the hand ascertain to 
which side the center mark must be moved. It 
necessarily happens that much time is lost by the 
workman going from the vise to the lathe and re- 
turning, and many times the lathe is wanted for 
other purposes while the workman is trying the 
centering of his work in it. But with the tool we 
have mentioned to stand beside his vise, he can 
center work at his leisure and get it nicely true 
and ready for the lathe without trying it in the 
lathe-centers until it is placed there to be operated 
upon by the lathe-tools. 



VISE FIXTURES AND ATTACHMENTS. 29 



VISE FIXTURES AND ATTACHMENTS. 

The jaws of vises are usually faced with steel, 
which is cut similarly to a file and then hardened 
and tempered ; consequently when material softer 
than the vise jaws is inserted and clamped in the 
vise, the marks of the file-like teeth are left upon 
the material. To obviate this it is customary with 
mechanics to fasten slips of leather to the jaws of 
the vise with some kind of adhesive substance, or 
form clamps of pieces of thin brass or lead, which 
are placed between the vise jaws, and then bent 
over the top of the jaw so as to remain in place 
when the jaws are separated for the insertion of 
the work. These clamps may be advantageously 
used for thin or delicate work, and can be removed 
when larger or rougher work is wanted to be in- 
serted and held fast. 

A most convenient tool to be used in the vise 
for filing angles is represented in Fig. 5, and 
ought to be made a necessity with every one who 
has occasion to work small articles, the edges of 
which are at more acute lines than a right angle. 
The most convenient position for filing is in nearly 
a horizontal line, and as the lines of the jaws of 



30 



MECHANIC S TOOL BOOK. 



this tool, which clamp the work, are at an angle 
of about 45°, consequently the work will stand at 
that angle, and it requires but a little inclination 
of the tile from the horizontal to obtain a very 
sharp chamfer. The shoulders 
of the tool, seen underneath 
the jaws, enable it to rest se- 
curely upon the vise jaws ; the 
spring seen between the lower 
portion of the two parts that 
compose the tool pieces, forces 
its jaws open when the vise in 
which it is placed is opened. 
This tool is much used by gun- 
lock makers to file the bevel or 
chamfer upon the edge of gun- 
locks, and is well adapted to 
any similar work. 

The mechanic is often called upon to file and 
work upon pieces of cylindrical metal, as pieces of 
rods, tubing, or wires of larger or smaller dimen- 
sions, and the vise presents no ready means of 





Fig. 6. 

holding the same without bruising it. Let him 
have some false jaws cast of brass, or even of cast- 



VISE FIXTURES AND ATTACHMENTS. 



31 



iron, similar to Fig. 6, in which he can easily file 
a series of triangular or half round grooves, in any 
direction, in each piece, as shown in the cut, so as 
to correspond with each other when placed between 
the vise jaws. For squaring the ends of rods or wire, 
or for holding the same for the purpose of cutting 




Fig. 7. 



screws upon them, as the making of small bolts 
for an example, no better vise fixture can be found. 
A tool for holding the common wood screw by the 
head is often needed by the mechanic and artisan ; 
and a tool for that purpose, fully shown in Fig. 7, 
is very easily made from the same set of castings 
as those of Fig. 6, and by sinking indentations 
along the face of the fixture near its upper edge, 
similar in form to the reverse of a screw-head, and 
the filing small grooves to continue from the in- 
dentation to the edge of the jaw, for the purpose 
of more securely clamping the body of the screw. 
If it be desired to cut screw-blanks with threads 
of different degrees of fineness, this presents a 
ready and secure means to hold them for that pur- 
pose. 



32 mechanic's tool book. 

To hold work of a tapering or pyramidal form, 
vices have been made with one jaw movable upon 
a pivot, which will accommodate itself to the sur- 
face of the work ; but it is not every mechanic 
that has a vise of this kind at his command. Some 
workmen do not like this kind of vise, as they 
claim that the movable jaw is not so firm for hold- 
ing work as a vise with solid jaws. We have seen 
some workmen, when they had a piece of taper 
work to operate upon, insert pieces of spikes or 
select bits of iron from the scrap pile, and place 
them between the smaller diameter of the work 
and the vise jaw ; but a most ready and sure at- 
tachment may be made of a piece of steel of a 




Fig. 8. 

triangular form, as shown in Fig. 8, the apex of 
which may find a bearing upon one vise jaw, and 
the base being presented the same as the vise jaw, 
to embrace the work presented to it. A means by 
which this fixture may be supported in a line with 
the hight of the vise jaw may consist of a yoke 
clasping the neck of the vise, and having a projec- 
tion through which a stem from the triangular 
piece of steel passes. 



THE DRIFT. 33 



THE "DKIFT." 

The " drift" is a tool that may be employed in 
lieu or in the absence of a punch and die, and 
equally as good work, if not better, can be ac- 
complished as with those tools, and it also has the 
advantage of being used where the punch cannot 
be brought to bear, and will stand more severe 
and rough usage than the punch is capable of. 

In construction the drift is made of a bar or rod 
of steel of appropriate length and with a trans- 
verse section of the precise form that the mortise 
or aperture is designed to be, but with the enter- 
ing end of the tool much smaller than its body, 
and increasing until it arrives at its full propor- 
tions, and then slightly decreasing to the upper 
end so that it will pass freely through the opening 
the larger portion has made. The sides of the 
tool, commencing at its entering end, are cut with 
coarse teeth about ten or less to the inch, each 
tooth being made not at a right angle with its 
lengths, but sloping backward or made at an an- 
gle meeting a tooth upon the adjoining face. 
When teeth are cut upon all sides of this tool, it 
will resemble a coarse, many-threaded screw, with 



34 mechanic's tool book. 

a thread commencing upon each of its sides. 
When the drift is made cylindrical in form, the 
cutting edges can be produced with an appropri- 
ate turning tool in the lathe, after the manner of 
cutting screws ; but those of a square, triangular, 
hexagonal, or other polygonal forms must have 
the teeth or cutting edges cut with a planer or a 
milling machine ; or if these tools are not accessi- 
ble, the file must be employed in their stead. 

Unless the mechanic wishes to make a succes- 
sion of holes of the same size and form, the drift 
cannot be employed with economy, but when a 
dozen or more of similar-shaped apertures are 
wanted the advantage of the tool is apparent. The 
best of steel must be selected from which to make 
it, and great care must be exercised in the forging 
and making, as well as in the hardening and final 
tempering ; and when carefully made and proved 
good by trial, the confidence with which it may be 
used without fear of its being destroyed will amply 
repay the cautious care used in its construction. 

We remember to have been once employed in a 
shop where a quantity of small wrenches, made of 
sheet steel, were needed to use upon a hexagonal 
nut which clamped the needle of a sewing ma- 
chine to the needle-bar. The practice, in making 
these wrenches, had been to drill a hole of about 
three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and then file 
it out to fit the nuts, which were about that diam- 
eter when measured across two parallel lines of 
their sides. One day when work was dull the job 



THE DRIFT. 



35 



was given us to do, and instead of at once com- 
mencing* to file at the wrenches, we astonished the 
fogy foreman by leisurely forging and tiling up a 
blank-drift that would be of the exact size and 
shape of the hexagonal hole in the wrench, and 
then iiled a succession of teeth upon each of its 
six sides. We tempered it and commenced our 
labor. The end of the drift which was to enter 
the hole bored in the wrench-blank was a little 
smaller than the hole, and was of a gradual taper 
as it was formed to a hexagonal shape, so that 
upon being driven into the hole it cut gradually un- 
til it had formed the hole of sufficient size, and then 
it decreased in diameter so that it passed easily 
through the hole thus formed. When we had fin- 
ished the tool we began operations, and in less 
than an hour we had acconrplished more and bet- 
ter work than the tiler would have done in a day, 
and the holes formed with this drift were of an ex- 
actness and equality of angle that the filer could 
not possibly attain. This is one of the many ex- 
amples in which drifts can be employed upon thin 
metal, as brass, iron, or steel. It matters but lit- 
tle what the shape of the drift may be so long as 
it is of a form that cutting teeth, similar to a 
coarse file, but not so fine or acute, may be made 
upon its several sides. We have found that ten 
teeth to the inch is a very good number, and it is 
better to cut them at an angle with the side of 
the drift of about the width of one tooth, so that the 
teeth in the finished drift will follow around its 



36 mechanic's tool book. 

circumference like the threads of a screw ; a new 
tooth will consequently commence at the bottom 
of each side of the tool ; a square drift will resem- 
ble a four-threaded screw of that form, and a hex- 
agonal shape will have six threads, or six succes- 
sive lines of teeth. 

Another example of the use of the drift is in the 
square mortise of the lower jaw of the slide 
wrench, through which the bar of the wrench 
passes. To use this casting (for it is made 
of malleable cast-iron) as it issues from the 
foundery would be detrimental to the wear of the 
wrench from the sand which adheres to the casting 
getting into the screw, as it would be abraded 
from where it adhered by constant wear. To file 
out this rectangular space would be a long and 
tedious operation, involving much wear and con- 
sequent cost of files ; to punch it with a press 
presents great difficulties ; but with a suitable 
shaped and properly made drift the whole thing is 
done quite expeditiously and cheaply, three or 
four blows of a hammer generally being all the 
force required to drive the tool, at one operation, 
through the two holes of the casting. 

Tools called drifts are often made of the re- 
quired form and used without cutting teeth upon 
their surface, but if this form of drift has any 
great amount of work to do, no workman will at- 
tempt to use it, without a cutting or serrated sur- 
face. As the hammer will somewhat batter up 
and spread the diameter of the drift-head, it is 



THE DRIFT. 



37 



better to contract this diameter for a short dis- 
tance from the upper end. 

The key-seats in wheels and pulleys may be ex 
peditiously made by means of a drift, as shown in 




Fig. 9. 

Fig. 9. A short cylinder of metal as at c must be 
turned to lit the hole in the hub b of the pulley, 
and a longitudinal groove a cut in this cylinder of 
the width of the key. The depth of this groove is 
of but little account, as the groove is merely to 
serve as a guide to the drift, to make a hole ex- 
actly its counterpart. Place this cylinder in the 
bore of the wheel and insert the drift e in the 
groove of the cylinder and drive it through, and, 
as teeth were only cut on the surface of the drift 
next to the wheel-hub, we see, as a result, that it 
has cut a shallow keyway or seat. To make the 
next cut and a deeper one, we insert a piece of 
thin steel or other metal as at d in the guide- 
recess of the cylinder and again drive the drift, 



38 mechanic's tool book. 

and it enlarges the key-seat of a depth correspond- 
ing to the thickness of the slip of steel we inserted 
in the groove of the cylinder. Proceed in this 
manner until the keyway is of a sufficient 
depth. 

This practice is quite old, and the use of the 
slotting-machine and planer have superseded it ; 
but as there are instances where it is required to 
form keyways, and the machines we have men- 
tioned are not available, we think the process 
might be revived in some instances with profit and 
advantage. 

The forms in which drifts can be made and used 
are of great variety, and they can be successfully 
employed with but little wear or injury, provided 
they are properly used and the angles which form 
the side are not made too acute. The cutting 
teeth should not be too slender, or they will break 
or nick off ; nor too obtuse, or they will have a 
tendency to act in such manner as to strain the 
metal through which they pass. If a hexagonal 
hole is to be produced, as would be the case were 
a wrench to fix nuts of a hexagonal form to be 
made, the drift would necessarily be of this shape 
and size in its largest transverse section. To use 
a drift, a hole as large as can be made consistent 
with the character of the work, either by drilling 
or other means, is first made, and in this hole the 
entering end of the drift, which end ought to be 
about the size of the hole, is inserted, and the 
drift driven through, either with a hammer or by 



THE DRIFT. 39 

the action of any suitable mechanical appliance. 
As the tool passes through the metal, each tooth 
cuts off a clean, thin shaving, and the surface of 
the work is left more smooth and true than can be 
effected by any other simple means. The drift 
may be used to advantage in some metals and 
some situations to follow the punch to remove the 
strained portion of metal produced around the 
surface where the punch has passed. It may also 
be used to produce any inequality of form which 
could not be very well made in the punch ; and 
with the exception of the part to be made to act, 
the tool can be left blank or smooth, and in oper- 
ation it will follow in the track of the punch, cut- 
ting out the form as desired. 

The limit of size of this class of tools has never 
been determined. But from the success of those 
even rudely-made and used with severity, it is 
evident that appliances of like character can be 
also successful when made of considerable size. 
The cutters of such tools might be made detacha- 
ble and taken out and ground when their edges 
become dulled by use. The means employed to 
actuate these tools might be the lever or the screw 
for smaller sizes, and for the larger sizes hydraulic 
pressure is applicable. There is little doubt but 
that engine cylinders could, after a rough turning, 
have their interior surfaces finished with a drift 
suitably made and forced through with the means 
mentioned. Such a surface would have the advan- 
tage over that produced by the boring bar, inas- 



40 mechanic's tool book. 

much as it would be of equal and constant diame- 
ter throughout, and the lines produced by the 
tool would run in the same direction as those in 
which the piston is to travel. 



COLD CHISELS. 41 



COLD CHISELS. 

To the mechanic who would have his tools of a 
neat proportion and attractive form we will say a 
word about cold chisels. Select about three sizes 
of octagon steel — say one-half inch, three-fourths, 
and one inch diameter. When you forge your 
chisels make them respectively six, seven, and 
eight inches in length, the half-inch steel furnish- 
ing a chisel six inches long. Then forge the width 
of the cutting-edge of the chisels respectively 
three-fourths, seven-eighths, and one inch in 
width ; grind the cutting-edge to meet at about 
an angle of 60°, and when using the chisel upon a 
plane surface hold it elevated at about 45° with 
the line of the surface being cut, reference being 
had to cutting cast-iron. 

It is not to be supposed that this angle of 60 Q 
is suitable for all kinds of chisels that are em- 
ployed upon iron or other metals. Far from it. 
This angle is mentioned as the best adapted for 
strength and rough usage as may be employed for 
the purpose of trimming, casting and similar oper- 
ations. For some kinds of work the chisel edge 



42 mechanic's tool book. 

may be formed with half this bevel, or with an 
edge, the lines of which meet at 30^. 

The material, the form of the cut to be made, 
and the purposes of the cut must be taken into 
consideration, and the angle of the cutting edge 
of the chisel proportioned accordingly. The judg- 
ment of the workman must be called into requisi- 
tion, and he must shape his chisels as the exigen- 
cies of the case demand. 

We have seen projections left upon the castings 
of machinery which were unsightly and would not 
be tolerated by a neat workman, because the work- 
man had no cold chisel to use as a part of his 
stock of tools. Then, again, for the same reason, 
we have seen workmen leisurely file away a spur 
or protuberance, when two or three blows with a 
hammer and a cold chisel would have accomplished 
the object in almost as many seconds. Excepting 
a scarcity of steel, there is no excuse for want of 
a cold chisel to be found wanting at the vise of 
the workman, and with its employment there will 
oftentimes be a great saving of that somewhat 
costly tool, the file. 



GAUGES, CALLIPERS, DIVIDERS, ETC. 43 



GAUGES, CALLIPERS, DIVIDERS, ETC. 

It is in such tools as these — gauges, callipers, 
dividers, etc. — that most mechanics are de- 
ficient in being the possessors, and they are the 
very tools most needed, and tools which the me- 
chanic should himself own. To purchase at a hard- 
ware store all of the small tools that are or ought 
to be the necessary adjuncts to the lathe and 
vise would require quite an outlay, and one which 
few workmen are willing to incur, and so they 
often make a shift, and a poor one at that, when 
they can, to get along without purchasing them. 
We advise every mechanic to make his own tools 
if he possibly can. Some he must of a necessity 
purchase, and among these are the spring dividers 
and callipers. We would recommend him to get 
two sizes of each, a pair of four-inch and a pair of 
six-inch. On small lathe or vise work the four- 
inch instruments can be handled with much greater 
ease than the larger sized ones, and the six-inch 
instruments will be called in requisition only for 
larger work ; and on common shop work it is sel- 
dom that the workman needs either callipers or 
dividers above six inches in length. 



44 mechanic's tool book. 

The best form of callipers, and one which the 
mechanic can easily make, are represented in the 
engraving, Fig. 10, and are represented of actual 
size. They are made from sheet steel of about one- 
sixteenth of an inch in thickness. To make them, 
cut out a pattern in paper, which paste upon a 
piece of sheet-steel of a size large enough to make 
one leg or side of the instrument ; then with a 
cold chisel rough this out to the edge of the paper, 
and also one of similar slope to form the other 
leg ; drill a hole for the rivet, which ought to be 
about one quarter of an inch in diameter, and 
with a piece of iron or wire driven into this hole 
fasten both pieces or legs together, and then 
clamp them in the vise and file them to the form 
as indicated by the paper pattern. They can then 
be taken apart and polished, or otherwise finished. 
Form a rivet with a head of the slope of one side 
of the boss and make a washer similar to the 
opposite one, but with a countersunk hole that 
will snugly receive the rivet. Place the parts in 
the positions they are to occupy, and lay the 
rivet head upon a piece of lead or hard wood, and 
head down the rivet upon the washer. File off 
the surplus metal and finish similar to the rivet 
head. These callipers are made very readily and 
answer as good a purpose as the more costly tools 
They are both outside and inside callipers, and 
the ends exactly correspond in either inside or 
or outside measurements, no matter at what dis- 
tance opened. 



GAUGES, CALLIPERS, DIVIDERS, ETC. 45 




Fig. 10. 



46 mechanic's tool book. 

Of scales or steel rules we would recommend 
a four-inch scale, of which one side is marked with 
the inch divided into eighths, sixteenths, thirty-sec- 
onds, etc. ; the other side having the inch divided 
into tenths and other decimal divisions. We 
would advise the workman to calculate all possi- 
ble measurements of less distance than the inch 
in tenths. In connection with the four-inch scale 
or rule it is necessary to have a twelve-inch scale. 
In selecting this choose one with the divisions on 
two lines, like those of the four-inch scale above- 
mentioned, and with the other two lines divided into 
fractional parts of the inch, which are not included 
in the divisions of decimals or fourths. These odd 
divisions will be found very useful in measuring 
the threads of screws, or by trying the different 
divisions upon the screw-threads it will be readily 
seen which conform, by the lines on the scale be- 
ing exactly coincident with the sharp edges of the 
thread. 

Many workmen use the tools we have mentioned 
for all of their measuring, callipering, etc., but 
where a constant measure is to be kept of a certain 
size it is best to make solid gauges, and for small 
work iron or steel about one-eighth of an inch in 
thickness is advisable. Select a piece of metal of 
this thickness and one inch in width and cut in 
pieces just four inches in length. Keep several of 
these in the tool chest or drawer ready to be used 
when wanted. In one of these pieces drill a series 
of holes at proportionate intervals, of diameters 



GAUGES, CALLIPERS, DIVIDERS, ETC. 47 

increasing by tenths ; make the first hole one-tenth, 
the second two-tenths, the third three-tenths, and 
thus continue to increase by tenths until you have 
several holes to serve as standards for future 




Fig. 11. 

measurements. If you have drill or rimmer shanks, 
make the chuck-center in which they are to be in- 
serted of the size of one of these holes in your 
gauge, and then you can use the hole in the gauge 
as a sure guide to turn or forge the shank of the 
requisite side. From one of these four-inch pieces 
you can make a V-gauge by which to turn up lathe 
centers to the necessary angle of acuteness and 
also make a rose-bit center of the same shape for 
centering shafting and other work, and the centers 
thus made will exactly correspond to the lathe 
center. Another V might" be cut in the gauge as 
a guide for grinding the cutting sides of drills to 
the angle 90°, as that is the best angle by which 
to form the points of drills. For any fixed or defi- 
nite size to which several pieces of work are to be 



48 



mechanic's tool book. 



fitted these blank gauges are brought into use. It 
takes but a few minutes to form the gauge aper- 
ture, and as it will remain constant to the size, 
the workman can progress without fear of deviation 
being made in his work, if he only be careful that 
his gauge be rightfully applied. In making a 
gauge aperture to fit a small cylinder or rod, as a 
drill shank, make a larger hole in the blank than 
is wanted, and fill a space through from the hole to 
one side of the guage of the exact width to corres- 
pond to the diameter of the work. This form is 




Fig. 12. 

shown in the annexed diagram, which diagram is 
represented as the form of a gauge of five-tenths 
or half-inch. The space A, and the opening B, are 
both of the same diameter and both used for the 
same measurement. 

If the workman makes a triangle of a piece of 
sheet steel, the right angles of which triangle will 
be about four inches in length, he will find it of 
use in many places where he cannot employ the fit- 
ting square ; it can also be used for every purpose as 
the fitting square, and can he made by the mechanic 
in his leisure moments. In the hypothenuse side 
of the triangle an angular opening may be made, 



GAUGES, CALLIPERS, DIVIDERS, ETC. 49 

which will correspond to two of the adjacent sides 
of an hexagonal or six-sided nut or bolt-head. If 
it be required to file up six-sided work to a degree 
of accuracy this gauge will be found of much use. 
A few tools or gauges, made in the manner we 
have described, will cost but a little more than the 
time to make them, and with ordinary usage will 
last for several years. If they are made of sheet 
steel and are subject to much wear at certain 
points, these parts can be easily tempered so as to 
resist the wear. In selecting steel or iron for 
gauges it should be about one-eighth of an inch in 
thickness, then there will be no danger of its 
springing when made into a gauge and applied to 
the object to be measured. 
B 



50 mechanic's tool book. 



STAND AED GAUGES FOE SCEEWS. 

When we speak of a certain number upon the 
wire or sheet-metal gauge, any mechanic readily 
knows the size or thickness of the material men- 
tioned. But when we speak of the number of 
threads or the size of a bolt, no one can tell exactly 
from the number of threads given what the size of 
the bolt is, or from the size given of the bolt what 
the number of threads is, or should be, upon it. 
In consequence of this, great inconvenience is 
found to arise from the variety of threads adopted 
by different manufacturers, and the provision for 
repairs in the different shops is rendered quite ex- 
pensive, or if this provision be not made, the means 
for matching screws are very imperfect. It is a 
well-known fact that unless the threads of the nut 
and screw exactly correspond, and coalesce in 
length and depth, the mutual action is deranged, 
friction is increased, and the power and strength 
of the screw are both sacrificed. 

In gas-pipes and gas-fixtures we have a very good 
standard, and a pipe ordered from a shop in one 
part of the country will be found to fit a thimble 
or a nut that is made in some other place. But 



STANDARD GAUGES FOR SCREWS. 51 

common bolts are an exception. They seem to 
.have been originally made and fitted up with all 
sorts of odds and ends of threads that have been 
cast off from other work. A faint effort has been 
made in some directions to overcome the evil by a 
uniformity of system, and reduce all screws to a 
standard, the thread being constant to a given di- 
meter ; but thus far this effort has amounted to but 
little. The same odd conglomeration of screw- 
threads still exists, and seems almost to" defy every 
attempt to reduce them to any kind of system. 

What we w T ant is a standard of gauges gradu- 
ated to a fixed scale, as constant measures of size ; 
and then corresponding parts, instead of being 
got up one to another, might be prepared separ- 
ately. The indefinite multiplication of sizes would 
thus be prevented, and the economy of the work- 
shop simplified beyond calculation. Let all bolts* 
increase in size by tenths of the inch, and let all 
threads when finished be exactly of decimal mea- 
surements. Then have a standard gauge of thread 
to each size of bolt. For three-tenths let it be 
eighteen threads to the inch ; four- tenths, sixteen ; 
five-tenths, or half inch, fourteen ; six and seven 
tenths, twelve ; eight and nine tenths, ten ; one 
inch, eight ; inch and a half, six ; and a two-inch 
bolt, four to the inch. 

Let some manufacturers introduce a system of 
gauges to fit these threads, measured by tenths, 
and made more perfect than the old gauges in use. 
Let there be a measurement for the threads per 



52 mechanic's tool book. 

inch, a gauge for the full size of the threads, and 
one for the bolt, if the threads were wholly cut 
away. There would then be a double use for this 
gauge — it would not only measure the bolt to fit a 
hole in a certain piece of work, but give the size 
of hole that it is wanted to cut a thread in to fit 
the bolt. 

Let gauges like this be introduced into the shop 
as a part of its necessary tools, and they will soon 
reduce all bolts to their standard, and by so doing 
save a multitude of vexations to the mechanic and 
the manufacturer. 

In all of the jobbing machine-shops we still find 
the old-fashioned taper tap in constant use for sev- 
eral series of bolts ; but introduce the decimal 
gauge as a standard, and the old taper taps will 
soon be thrown aside, and manufacturers can sup- 
ply the market with straight and plug taps, and in 
decimal sizes that will be warranted to fit. The 
same manufacturers that supply these taps can 
also make a business of manufacturing counter- 
bores and fluted-reamers, all made to correspond 
with and fit this decimal standard gauge. We 
hope soon to see some move made in this direc- 
tion, and hope that a better time will soon dawn 
upon the troubled mechanic, who now labors un- 
der many difficulties and gropes in the dark and 
confusion of cutting and fitting bolts in the ma- 
chine, jobbing, and repairing sh(Tps. 



THE ANGLE OF 60 Q . 53 



THE ANGLE OF 60°. 

Ik forming the cutting angle of tools, as used 
by the iron-worker, no very definite instructions 
are given. The apprentice copies as near as he 
can from the master or more experienced work- 
man, and they work in the manner in which they 
were taught. Every mechanic has at times ob- 
served that there was a certain angle which, when 
given to the cutting lines of tools, was more ef- 
fective and resisted the action of the material in 
which the tools operated, better than others ; but 
with the exception of an effort to remember these 
lines by the eye, he has no gauge or guide to as- 
sist him in the production of the same angle 
again. 

It is generally acknowledged that the cutting 
angle of a lathe-turning tool operates best, is the 
most effective, and has the greatest strength, 
when formed with an angle of about 60° ; and this 
same angle, which in tools of this kind may be 
called the angle of strength, can be formed to ad- 
vantage in all tools which are used to operate in 
iron or steel. 

The angle of 60° is easily formed and as easily 



54 mechanic's tool book. 

remembered. To obtain the proper proportions, 
insert a circle, and in this circle draw an equilat- 
eral triangle, the points of which intersect the di- 




Fig. 13. 

ameter of the circle, and this angle has 60°, and 
has been found by experience to be the strongest 
and most durable form that can be given to an 
iron-cutting tool. If the reverse of this angle, or 
an indented V of the same form, be made in a 
piece of metal, it will form a gauge or guide by 
which to form the cutting edges of nearly all the 
tools of the iron-worker. 

We have mentioned the lathe-turning tool as an 
instance of the efficacy of this angle. The chip- 
ping or cold chisel is another example, and there 
is no tool the edge of which is subjected to a 
greater amount of rough usage and strain, and 
more liable to give way, than this simple tool ; but 
if its cutting angle be formed to lines which meet 
at an angle of 60°, it will be found to stand more 
blows and wear longer than any other angle. For 
delicate work a more acute angle may be used, 



THE ANGLE OF 60°. 55 

but for ordinary purposes this angle will be found 
the most serviceable. 

The same angle can be used in the cutting an- 
gle of the flat and twist drill, but there is a greater 
efficiency in the twist drill over the flat one, and 
for the reason that the angle is more acutely pre- 
sented to the work than in the flat drill. The 
counterbore or pin drill, and the chasers employed 
to form screw-threads, are examples in which this 
angle could be advantageously used, giving the 
tools greater strength and durability. In some 
of these tools the angle is differently presented to 
the work than in others, yet the same number of 
degrees may form the lines of the cutting edges. 
We have said that this angle of 60° is the angle 
of strength, and we mention the instances in 
which it may be advantageously employed to ob- 
tain a more serviceable tool, yet say nothing of 
the manner in which the apex of the angle may be 
presented to penetrate or work in the metal. 

The shears used by the worker in sheet-iron are 
best formed with the edges of each of the severing 
blades at the angle we have described. Let them 
be once so formed, and experience will decide in 
its favor. 

The screw-tap ought to be grooved to conform 
to this angle, and when it is made with three 
grooves, which is undoubtedly the best mode of 
forming a tap, the proper angle, or rather the form 
of the triangle, supposing it to be seen in section, 
can easily be given to it, supposing the circular 



56 mechanic's tool book. 

part, as it recedes from the cutting edge, be made 
in a straight line. If more than three grooves are 
made, each cutting edge must be considered as 
one point of an equilateral triangle, and if there be 
six grooves, it will represent two of these triangles 
laid upon one another, and the angle of 60° must 
apply to each individual point. The same rule 
and the same angles must apply to the threads of 
bolts and nuts ; the shape of a bolt-thread must be 
measured with this angle and conform to it. The 
tool that is used in the lathe for cutting these 
threads must be also formed to 60°, and accurately 
fit the V-gauge when it is applied ; and in addition 
to the cutting lines of the tool being thus formed, a 
greater strength is gained if the cutting angle and 
the front line of the tool be formed with the same 
angle of 60°. 

The teeth of mills, reamers, and circular saws 
for cutting metals operate as a series of revolving 
chisels, removing whatever metal they come in 
contact with, and to get the greatest strength and 
maximum of wear their teeth must be formed with 
the angles as we have explained. When these 
tools thus made, are used in the heaviest work, 
they will seldom break or give away with any 
kind of fair usage ; but if they be made with a 
more acute angle will break or crumble, and if 
with a less angle will not operate as easily nor as 
effectively. 

The lathe centers are best made when shaped at 
the angle of 60°, and, in fact, this angle has been 



THE ANGLE OF 60^. 57 

recognized as a standard for their formation in 
many shops, while in others we see no attention 
paid to it, and the centers are made by " guess ;" 
but it has been ascertained that the angle of G0 Q 
stands the best under all kinds of usage, and the 
same gauge by which they were shaped can be 
used to form the rose-head or countersink which 
is used to form the center in shafting and work to 
be turned, and it will then accurately fit the cen- 
ter of the lathe. 

This angle of 60°, as an example of strength and 
service, can enter into the formation of nearly all 
of the cutting tools used by the machinist or iron- 
worker, and a simple gauge, made of sheet steel, 
will be found a sufficient guide to enable the me- 
chanic to obtain it without any difficulty. 
B2 

t 



58 mechanic's tool book. 



LATHE TUENING TOOLS. 

Probably no tool used by the mechanic is 
made with a greater variety of forms and shapes 
and more variously used than the lathe turning- 
tool, and for the simple operation which it has to 
perform there is no tool that requires greater skill 
to make and greater care to keep in order. As we 
see the turning tools on the lathe of the machinist, 
we notice that they are made from bars of steel of 
sufficient width and hight to nearly fill the mortise 
in the tool-post in which they are placed to oper- 
ate upon the metal to be reduced by their action. 
Has it never occurred to the machinist that of 
these tools only a very small portion is used to 
cut away the opposing material, and if he would 
economize time in grinding these tools when they 
were dulled by labor he must exercise some care 
and foresight in their construction ? As it is cus- 
tomary in the majority of machine-shops for 
the mechanics to forge their own tools, we will 
venture to give a few hints respecting the construc- 
tion of such tools. We have seen many workmen 
forge the projecting portion of the tool, the angles 
of which form the cutting edges, of a lozenge or 



LATHE TURNING TOOLS. 



59 



diamond shape, because there were no fixtures by 
the aid of which to form it differently, the hammer 
and anvil being alone employed, and as a conse- 
quence it required much time to reduce the sur- 
plus metal whenever the tool was ground. They 
have remarked that, instead of the lozenge form, 
a triangular point would give the same amount of 
strength and the same length of angle of cutting 
edge, and less labor would be required to keep the 
tool in order by grinding when such operations 
are necessary. But with the hand-hammer and 
anvil alone no better form than the lozenge-shape 
can be produced. If a little time and labor were 
spent in making a shaper to be inserted in the an- 
gular recess of the anvil, and in the face of this 
shaper a V or recess be formed, extending across 
its surface, the needed triangular shape of the 
tool is readily made by first rudely forging the 




Fig. 14. 

point upon the anvil and then placing it within 
the triangular recess and swaging it to the form 



60 mechanic's tool book. 

with the hammer, the hammer blows forming 
the base of the triangle and the two sides of the 
recess, a right or left hand cutting edge as may 
be desired. 

In Fig. 14 we present a sketch of what a cutting 
tool should be, and the angles forming its several 
lines of surface. A is a cylinder inserted between 
the centers of the lathe, upon which the tool, B, 
is operating. A, is a horizontal line passing 
from the center of the work to the cutting point 
of the tool ; D is the line of the cutting edge or 
angle ; E a line passing from the cutting point 
along the front plane of the tool ; and F is a line 
at right angles to the horizontal line, 0. These 
angles may be better known by the following 
terms : — The angle formed by the intersection of 
D, E is the " angle of the tool ;" the one formed 
by B, F the " angle of relief," as by its acuteness 
the friction of the face of the angle upon the work 
is increased or diminished ; the angle formed by 
0, D is the " angle of escape," as it allows the ma- 
terial which is cut away to readily escape for fur- 
ther operation. The angle of relief should always 
be quite small, for if made too large the point of 
the tool will not have the support necessary and 
will be apt to break, and often in such a manner 
that a new tool must necessarily be made. If a 
tool has a tendency to dig into the work, a less an- 
gle of relief will correct its injurious propensity. 

It must be borne in mind that the turning tool 
is hnt n, wedge, whose point must enter the surface 



LATHE TURNING TOOLS. 



61 



of the metal and cleave or lift off a certain portion, 
according* as it is presented to the opposing sur- 
face. If the edge of the tool be too thin, or is 
exposed to a greater strain than its strength will 
bear, it will consequently give away ; but if made 
too obtuse, it does not cut, but roughly tears away 
the opposing metal, and ox^erates in a very unsatis- 
factory manner. The angle of the tool must be 
that in which the minimum of friction and the 
maximum of durability is produced. For iron 
this angle is about 60°. 

It has probably been observed by the machinist, 
as we have before remarked, that much labor is 
required to form his turning tools and keep them 
in repair, and the portion brought into service in 
cutting is quite small. If, then, smaller bars of 




Fig. 15. 

metal could be made rigid enough, so arranged as 
to be fixed in the correct position, and thus re- 



62 mechanic's tool book. 

tained for use and at the same time be made 
removable for repairs and adjustable to compen 
sate for the wear and grinding of the tool, an 
important result would be gained. Several at 
tempts have been made to effect this, but no 
contrivance has yet come into general use. In 
Fig. 15 we give the form of a tool which we believe 
to be all that can be desired in this form. A is a 
bar of steel, made to fit the recess of the tool-post 
with a triangular or other shaped recess formed at 
the front extremity ; in this recess is placed a 
short piece of steel, B, so made and fitted as to 
accomplish the same effect as the cutting point of 
the commonly fashioned lathe tool. Such points 
may be made of pieces of steel of a few inches in 
length and may be tempered their entire length 
and made reversible, so that either end can be 
used when needed. When one of these pieces is 
inserted in the stock, A, a gib, 0, is driven in 
behind the piece and securely holds it in place. 

In Fig. 1G, is given another form of turning tool 
and stock. It consists of a bar of iron or steel 
gibs to the tool post and drilled longitunally to re- 
ceive the stem of the clamp which holds the temp- 
ered cutting rod. A shoulder is made upon this 
clamp which is received in a corresponding recess in 
the bar. This serves to keep the clamp and tool 
steady. A nut screwed upon the end of the stem 
serves to tighten up the clamp to the steel cutting 
point, and consequently to the bearing surface of 
the bar or stock. Now, any apprentice, who 



LATHE TURNING T30LS. 



63 



knows enough to take a twist-drill and bore a 
piece of iron therewith, can make this turning 
tool. It will receive several sizes and shapes of 
steel rods if necessary, and hold them very secure. 




Fig. 16. 

It has the additional advantage that the point 
can be removed for grinding or other purposes 
without removing the stock from the tool post of 
the lathe. Also, no blow severe enough to injure 
tool or stock need be applied to loosen the point 
to permit of its removal. 

The introduction of lathe tools of the character 
above described indicates mechanical progress. 
The machinist's time is too valuable to be em- 
ployed in forging a great deal of metal to obtain 
a small turning point, and with his lathe standing 
idle while he is thus engaged. In construction, 
the tool stocks and holders as presented explain 
themselves. The turning points are made of 
short rods or bars of steel and tempered their en- 



64 mechanic's tool book. 

tire length. They can be reversed when one end 
is dull, and to facilitate labor several of these rods 
may be kept at hand ready for use. In the tool 
shown in Fig. 16, the turning point is held by being 
clamped between the movable piece and the stock, 
and is there secured by turning up the nut at the 
outer end of the stock. As before remarked a 
hammer is not required to loosen this point for 
removal, and the parts of the tool are very strong 
and simple. It can also be used as a clamp for 
holding wire or rods for filing, and may be used in 
the capacity of a hand vise for holding work for 
manipulation. We have seen lathes with which a 
slide-rest is used, provided with no mechanism or 
means to elevate the point of the tool as it was 
worn or ground away. The mechanic then inserts 
pieces of nails or bits of scrap-iron under the tool 
to elevate the point to the necessary hight, but 
with a tool like the ones represented this would be 
entirely obviated. And another advantage is ev- 
ident, the forging and tempering of lathe tools 
like these are not required so often as with the 
commonly formed tool made upon the bar of steel, 
and the amount and weight of steel thus employed 
is materially reduced, a few pieces of small-sized 
steel rod, which require little or no forging, taking 
their place, and when they require grinding can 
be quickly removed and ground with little labor. 
This form of tool is equally applicable to the 
planer, the slotter, and shaping machine. 



CARE OP THE LATHE. 65 



OAEE OF THE LATHE AND ITS AD- 
JUNCTS. 

The latlie may be considered to be the chief of 
all tools, as it is the principal one in the workshop 
economy. The care taken of it ought, therefore, 
to be in a corresponding ratio to its worth. With- 
out the lathe modern mechanics would be nothing ; 
the circular parts which so much enter into the 
conformation of all machines would be an impossi- 
ble production. Let it be respected, then, for its 
great utility. We have often remarked, as we 
have entered a machine-shop, that the care and 
attention which appeared to have been bestowed 
on the lathe was the index to the general manage- 
ment of the shop, and a sure criterion of the man- 
ner in which the business of that establishment 
was conducted. If the lathes were neat and or- 
derly, we were sure the proprietors were prompt 
and regular, and had an eye to business in all its 
details ; but if, on the other hand, the lathes were 
disorderly, soiled, and rusty, we invariably gave 
that place a wide berth, and looked carefully how 
we dealt with the attaches of the concern. A 
man's habits will certainly be shadowed on the in- 



66 mechanic's tool book. 

animate material with which he comes in contact, 
and that in its turn will disclose the characteris- 
tics of the interior life of the operative. 

The lathe, as we remarked, is the principal tool 
of the machine-shop ; let the mechanic regard its 
care and use with a jealous eye. See that it is 
kept clean and free from dirt and stains of dried 
oil. It is necessary at intervals to oil the bear- 
ings, but do not allow the surplus oil to run down 
the sides of the head-block ; but if it should do so, 
immediately remove it with a handful of cotton 
waste. Some proprietors are too niggardly to 
provide waste ; but if this be the case, the me- 
chanic, if he will, may find a piece of rag large 
enough to wipe his lathe with. We say to me- 
chanics, do it at your own expense, rather than 
have the reputation of not keeping your lathe 
clean. 

A hammer never ought to be the adjunct to a 
lathe, for with its use the lathe-shears will get 
bruised and battered ; always use a wooden mallet, 
or if one cannot be easily obtained, and the ham- 
mer must be used, place a block of wood between 
the place to be acted upon, and strike upon the 
wood instead of the work. A shallow tray or 
piece of plain board ought to be placed upon the 
rear end of the lathe-bed, and all lathe tools, 
hammers, chucks, etc., ought, when not in use, to 
be laid upon this board, and not upon the lathe- 
bed. More injury is caused to the appearance of 
a lathe by the careless habit of throwing the turn- 



CARE OF THE LATHE. 67 

ing tools at random upon the unused portions of 
the bed, than by any other means. 

Another abused adjunct to the lathe is the scroll 
chuck ; and more real damage is done to it with 
the application of this tool than with any other. 
To put it upon the lathe-spindle we have seen 
workmen start the lathe at full speed, and hold 
the chuck to the screw of the spindle, retaining it 
in that manner until the shoulder at the terminus 
of the thread met the face of the chuck with a 
sudden blow, that arrested the force of the lathe 
and released the chuck from the hands of the 
workmen. When chucks are made to run untrue 
by such gross carelessness, we have seen workmen 
take a block of wood and a hammer, and with re- 
peated blows endeavor to put them into their 
proper circle of rotation. After a chuck has been 
placed upon a lathe-spindle in the manner we have 
described, it will require some force to remove it, 
and the chuck-jaws present a ready means of ap- 
plying force, and the hammer the instrument of 
force to start it from its place ; we have seen an 
iron bar inserted between the jaws of the chuck 
and a powerful leverage thus obtained with re- 
peated blows as the means of removal ; the back- 
gear of the lathe being thrown into the spindle- 
gear and thus locked to prevent the rotation of 
the spindle, which would otherwise ensue. We 
have seen other workmen hold a piece of iron 
against the lathe-shear with one hand and with 
the other forcibly rotate the chuck against the 



68 mechanic's tool book. 

iron. Chucks can be removed in this way, but we 
once saw a valuable chuck spoiled by the jaw 
breaking out from the plate as it met with this re- 
sistance to its rotation. We -say place the chuck 
carefully to its place upon the spindle, and it will 
require but a small force to remove it when your 
work is completed. 

Many chucks have their jaws operated by a ring, 
which is turned by means of a short piece of iron 
or steel rod. The holes where this rod is inserted 
are often very much battered and bruised unneces- 
sarily. A good chuck can soon be much injured 
in this way. Have the rod of good steel, turned 
to lit the hole in the movable ring, and when you 
have occasion to insert the rod to move the jaws, 
insert it as far as the depth of the hole will allow 
and turn it as is necessary, but avoid all blows, 
jerks, and sudden wrenchings, which not only in- 
jure the chuck but also affect the lathe-spindle 
and its bearings. 



APPLICATION OF LATHE APPLIANCES. 69 



APPLICATION OF LATHE APPLIANCES. 

Appearances would seem to indicate, in many 
machine-shops, that the engine lathe is all that is 
needed in the form of machine tools ; and with the 
lathe alone, if we except the file, the mechanic is 
expected to produce the various forms of work re- 
quired ; which can be done, it is true, but at a 
cost of time and at a great disadvantage. 

The lathe centers are always furnished with the 
new lathe when it is purchased, but they are only 
fitted to the spindles ; the points must be shaped 
and tempered. Instead of having a gauge to turn 
up these points, each mechanic suits his own 
fancy as to their shape, and as a result we seldom 
see two lathes with the same shaped centers. If 
rose-heads or half-round pointed reamers are to be 
used for countersinks of the work to be turned, 
we seldom find them to correspond with the cen- 
ter points, and often a slovenly workman will use 
the point of a flat drill instead of the appropriate 
countersink ; as a reason, perhaps, he is too indo- 
lent to make a proper tool for this work, or per- 
haps the niggardliness of the proprietor will not 
allow of time being spent in making such tools. 



70 mechanic's tool book. 

A gauge of the proper angle for the centers ought 
to be made, and then countersinks and centers, 
both made to exactly correspond to this gauge ; 
and when the centers are thus made, carefully 
temper the dead center and leave the live center 
soft or untempered ; the reason is obvious, if at 
any time the live center be found to run untrue, 
it can be corrected with a hand tool, which can- 
not be done if it were tempered. It is seldom 
that we see more than one pair or set of centers 
fitted to a lathe. There ought to be at least three 
sets ; the one we have just mentioned, adapted for 
ordinary work, a set to correspond, but with in- 
dentations, instead of points, called female cen- 
ters, of a depth of about one-fourth of an inch, to 
receive articles which are pointed instead of being 
squared and centered, and a larger set of centers 
of two inches or upwards in diameter, with the 
pointed ends made like cones, to be inserted into 
tubes or hollow shafts, if it be needed to turn or 
work such tubes. 

The next appliance which should be fitted to the 
lathe is the drill chuck, and this should be made 
to screw upon the spindle, not made with a shank 
to be inserted into the hole intended for the cen- 
ter. 

Two scroll chucks, a large one and a small one, 
ought to be the acconipaninient of each lathe ; the 
large one to serve for chucking pulleys and large 
articles, and the small one to hold smaller articles, 
short pieces of rods, wire, etc., which* would be 



APPLICATION OF LATHE APPLIANCES. 71 

awkwardly held in the large chuck. An appro- 
priate size for this small chuck is six inches in di- 
ameter, and the larger one nine to twelve inches 
in diameter, in accordance with the swing or size 
of the lathe. For ordinary work, a nine-inch 
chuck is sufficient. With the exception of the 
six-inch chuck, the mechanic must select those 
best suited for his work. Several kinds of styles 
may be obtained in the market, both eccentric and 
concentric, made with two, three, or four jaws. 
These chucks can be purchased at much less cost 
than the mechanic can make them himself, unless 
he be an amateur and wishes to make his own 
tools. 

Accompanying the lathe as it is received from 
the manufacturer there is generally one face-plate 
fitted to the spindle. We would advocate the 
making of at least three different sized plates of 
this kind, to accommodate the different sizes of 
work to be manipulated, and also to accommodate 
the different lengths of the dogs or drivers that 
are generally employed in such work. A small 
driver makes an ill fit in a large plate, and a large 
driver certainly cannot fit a small plate ; but let 
each size of driver have its own appropriate size 
of face-plate, then the drivers may be made in 
their j>roper proportions, according to their aper- 
tures and the work to be inserted in such aper- 
tures. 

After the lathe centers are finished and the drill 
and other chucks are fitted, the next thing to be 



72 mechanic's tool book. 

done is to remove the spindle from the tail-stock 
and make a screw upon its end precisely similar to 
the one upon the live spindle. This is very seldom 
or never done in shops, but when once made and 
used will be ever after deemed essential. The 
face-plates, the drill, and other chucks can then 
be placed upon this spindle and many operations 
performed which cannot be otherwise well done ; 
portions of work can then be rotated in the chuck 
placed upon the live spindle, and the drill-chuck 
may be placed upon the dead spindle, and holding 
the drill or tool required to operate upon the work 
in a much better manner than to place the end of 
the tool against the dead center, and hold it from 
turning by placing a dog or driver upon it. The 
scroll or eccentric chucks may be placed upon the 
dead spindle, and drills or tools inserted in the 
chuck upon the live spindle. We have seen me- 
chanics attempt to drill or bore small castings by 
holding them in their hands against the dead spin- 
dle, and the result of such practice is an unsatis- 
factory hole, and the operation is often attended 
with bruised or lacerated fingers, the result of the 
work " getting away " from their grasp. We hope 
this hint of a screw upon the tail-stock spindle 
will be of universal adoption, for its use will be 
evident from the example just mentioned. The 
chuck required to hold the work can be placed in 
position in a minute or two, and the work held 
with no risk or inconvenience. 
Every manufacturer who purchases a lathe 



APPLICATION OF LATHE APPLIANCES. 73 

ought to be convinced that as much as the cost of 
the lathe ought to be invested in the appliances 
which are to be fitted to it, and then the workman 
can then feel that he has some conveniences to ' 
work wdth, and can accomplish his work in an easy 
and satisfactory manner. 

These appliances when once obtained, or inade 
and fitted, will last as long as the lathe, and the 
celerity by means of which the operations can be 
accomplished will repay the capital expended, for 
it is convincing to every one at this age that 
" time is money," and the one must be cared for 
and economized in the same manner as the other. 



74 mechanic's tool book. 



LATHE CHUCKS. 

There are hundreds of small operations which, 
in many machine-shops, are done at the vise and 
with a file that can be done with the lathe, if a 
little ingenuity and a few hours of time were em- 
ployed in making the proper tools. Some mechan- 
ics have the ingenuity, but will not apply it, per- 
haps from the mistaken idea that the proprietor or 
some one else will be benefited, and they will re- 
ceive no emolument for the use of the emanation 
of their brains. It is the general idea of mechanics 
that their employer is entitled only to their manual 
labor, and the mental is required only of the fore- 
~man or whoever directs their operations ; and if a 
little study be wanted upon some unfinished por- 
tion of their work, they will coolly wait until the 
''boss" has again marked out a line of future pro- 
gress. This class of workmen are but little better 
than machines ; they use their bone and muscle 
only, and work in a dull and automatic manner. 
It is very true that but few employers will permit 
their workmen to make experiments, as they of- 



LATHE CHUCKS. 



75 



ten find that it is to their cost alone, as no profit 
accrues from these attempts ; but as an excuse 
for allowing the operative to carry out some plan, 
we must say that there are many operations which, 
by the aid of a few simple fixtures, that the work- 
man could easily make if he had only an idea of 
them, would greatly facilitate his labors. 

We will suppose the mechanic has a round, an 
oval, a square, or any irregular-shaped plate of 
metal through which it is necessary to make a cir- 
cular aperture, or form a screw-thread within the 
hole when made ; we will suppose that the plate 
cannot be held either in the eccentric or concentric 
or independent jawed chuck, or if it could be held 
in these chucks, the lathe he is to work upon is 
not provided with them. Let the mechanic then 
fasten, by means of common wood screws inserted 
through the back side of the face-plate, a piece of 
plank or thick board of some hard wood to the 
face-plate, and turn it off to a size somewhat larger 
than the face-plate. Then fit two strips of iron 
across the board, as shown in the cut, and fasten 
the straps at each end with bolts to the face of the 
wood. The heads of these 
bolts ought to be made square, 
and sunk into the wood next 
to the face-plate. The square 
head will prevent their turning 
round when the nuts are 
screwed up, and by the heads 
being inserted next to the face- 
plate will prevent the bolts from Fig. 17. 




76 mechanic's tool book. 

getting lost, if it be desired to keep the board 
upon the plate. A chuck can be made upon this 
plan which will be very often found useful, by 
screwing the bolts directly into the face-plate 
without the intervening piece of board ; but it is 
best to put on the board, as by so doing the point 
of the turning tool will be in no danger of passing 
beyond the inserted work, and thus injure the 
face-plate or spindle. It would be well to turn a 
recess in the back of the board in which the face- 
plate will accurately fit, and this will be a guide 
to always keep it truly in its place. The wood of 
a chuck of this kind can be easily renewed at any 
time when it is much worn or bruised, and when 
it is necessary to remove it from the plate, by 
keeping the bolts and straps in their proper places 
they will be in no danger of their getting displaced 
or lost. 

This appartus can in many kinds of work take 
the place of the scroll and eccentric chuck, and 
will at the same time securely hold work that can- 
not be contained in either ; it is cheap, easily 
made and fitted, and would be an economical fix- 
ture to the jobbing lathe. 

The handles of wrenches, such as are used for 
taps in screw-nutting, are often turned very neatly, 
but the flat or square parts are either filed up or 
left unfinished ; if there be no planer in the shop 
there is no ready means to finish this flat surface ; 
but if the mechanic has one of the chucks or fix- 
tures which we have just described, the wrench 



LATHE CHUCKS. 77 

can be turned off true and nice on the flat surfaces. 
The handles of the wrench must rest against the 
bolts as it is confined by the straps, and it will, if 
properly secured, be impossible for it to get loose 
or out of place. 

We have observed in many shops that the want 
of chucks and lathe attachments is much felt, yet 
the proprietor seemed to think that when a lathe 
was introduced to his premises nothing more was 
needed, and that chucks and face-plates are a sort 
of costly superfluity which could be dispensed with. 
But as we have before remarked, on the introduc- 
tion of a lathe into any establishment there ought 
to be immediately fitted to it several drill chucks, 
a concentric and an eccentric chuck, and a screw 
ought to be made on the end of the dead spindle, 
so that the various chucks and tools can be placed 
on either the live or dead spindle. The advantage 
of this will be apparent, the drill chuck can be 
screwed on the dead spindle, and the work can be 
held in chuck or fixture which is placed upon the 
live, or vice versa. Bound iron or circular plates 
can be held in this manner, and the hole made 
will be " true " to the face of the work. 

The number of chucks and fixtures that are 
adapted to especial ends is unlimited, but it is the 
lathe fixtures which are called into requisition for 
general purposes that we desire to mention — tools 
which are adapted for the jobbing and repair shop, 
where it is seldom that an especial tool is called 
in requisition the second time, or, even if it be so, 



78 



mechanic's tool book. 



it must be altered so as to be fitted for the opera- 
tion, and is then unfit for a piece of work similar 
to the one for which it was first made. 

The form of chuck which we illustrated in Fig. 
1 7, has the merit of being cheap and easily con- 
structed, but if the workman desires a better tool 
upon the same plan he can fit a face-plate to his 
lathe and then get three rings made of cast-iron 
of the same external diameter as the plate. Fit 




Fig. 18. 

these rings so as to be held close to the face of 
the plate by three bolts which pass through the 
outer circumference of the rings, equi-distant from 
each other, and screw into the face-plate. By 
having the holes in the central portion of these 
rings of larger or smaller diameter, any such work 
as small pulleys, plates or disks, can be held and 
worked with ease. In case a ring is spoiled or 
broken, it can be renewed at little more than the 
cost of the cast-iron. 

Another method of forming a chuck to hold a 
pulley or disk through which there is a circular or 
irregular formed aperture is very simple and well 



LATIIE CHUCKS. 



79 



adapted for general work. The representation 
which we give in Pig. 18 readily explains it. Into 
a face-plate, which is fitted to the lathe, insert a 




Fig. 19. 

steel spindle, which must be turned so as to run 
true ; upon the farther end of this spindle cut a 
strong thread and fit a nut to it ; then fit a cone of 
iron or brass upon this spindle so that there will 
be no shaking or vibration ; have several washers 
or disks which also fit the spindle and are of an 
external diameter about the same as the base of 
the cone. To use this fixture to turn or face up a 
pulley or disk, remove the nut, washers, and cone, 
hold the work to be wrought upon next to the 
plate with the spindle through its aperture ; place 
the cone so as to enter the aperture, which will 
probably be longer than the apex of the cone ; 
place a washer or two against the base of the cone 
and screw the nut against the washers. As one 
side of the work rests against the face of the plate, 
the work is kept true by the cone in its central 
opening. This will be found an easy way of ad- 



80 mechanic's tool book. 

justing and an efficient mode of holding many 
things that need to be quickly placed in position 
for operation. If it be required to support the end 
of the spindle where the nut is fitted on account 
of its vibrating during the working, a center or 
countersink may be made in this end, in which the 
center of the dead spindle of the lathe may be in- 
serted. This tool will be found a most excellent 
substitute for the multitude of short iron arbors 
which are required to be driven into the holes of 
wheels and pulleys in order to turn or manipulate 
them in the lathe. 

While we are upon the subject of chucks we 
must not forget to mention one that is not per- 
haps exactly an adjunct to the iron-worker's lathe, 
yet where wooden disks and chucks are to be 
made for the purpose of holding patterns or cast- 
ings to be turned, it will be found very serviceable. 
It is simply a plate that screws 
upon the lathe-spindle the same 
as an ordinary face-plate, as shown 
in Fig. 20, and in the centre of 
this plate is secured a short, stout, 
gimlet-pointed screw, which pro- 
jects from the plate about an inch 
or so, as may be necessary. To 
Fig. ~20. fit a piece of plank or board to a 
face plate to make for instance, the chuck rep- 
resented in Fig. 17, screw the wood upon this 
chuck and then turn the recess to fit the face-plate, 
and as this plate is at the time detached from the 




LATHE CHUCKS. 81 

lathe the wood may be nicely and quickly fitted. 
Then unscrew the wood from the screw-point and 
fasten it to the plate by means of screws, put it 
upon the lathe-spindle and turn and finish up the 
side where the straps are to fitted. Without this 
screw-point chuck the board would have to be held 
to the plate by means of screws ; the size of the 
plate to w T hich it is to be fitted taken by calipers 
and the recess made accordingly, then the board 
reversed and fastened again to the plate by means 
of the screws and finished up to suit the work. 



82 mechanic's tool book 



ECCENTRIC AND CONCENTRIC CHUCKS. 

Some form of eccentric or concentric chuck is 
desirable in all machine shops and almost indis- 
pensable for the lathes. Of the eccentric chucks 
two forms have been used : the older one, in which 
the work was held by screws passing through lugs 
or ears, which projected at right angles to the face 
of the chuck and upon its outer periphery ; the 
more modern tool, in which the work is held by 
jaws which work in radial grooves, and each jaw 
operated or moved independent of the other by 
means of a screw confined to the body of the im- 
plement and turned by a wren ch. Where irregular 
shapes are to be held, or disks are to be operated 
upon otherwise than concentric with their circum- 
ferences, this chuck is invaluable, and is a stan- 
dard tool. It is also used largely as a concentric 
chuck, the workman being aided in confining the 
work in a concentric manner by means of circles 
made upon the face ofthechuckasit revolves upon 
the lathe-spindle. The great objection to using it 
as a concentric chuck is the time usually consumed 
in placing the work so as to revolve upon its dia- 
metrical center, and resulting from this we see the 



ECCENTRIC AND CONCENTRIC CHUCKS. 83 

concentric and scroll chuck brought into use. Of 
chucks of this character we find two kinds at pres- 
ent in the market : one in which the jaws are mov- 
ed simultaneously by the turning of a plate upon 
the face of which a volute spiral or "scroll" is cut, 
and in the indentations of this scroll the projec- 
tions made upon the back of the jaws find a hold, 
and by the turning of the plate the jaws are 
moved concentric to or from its center. In the 
other form of chuck the jaws are fitted on screws 
similar to the eccentric chuck, and on the upper 
end of each screw a small bevel-wheel is placed, 
and these wheels are rotated in unison by means 
of a circular rack, which lays in a recess behind 
the jaws and is turned by a wrench applied to any 
one of the projecting heads of the screws which 
carry the bevel-gears. This chuck has an advan- 
tage over the other concentric chuck, inasmuch as 
the circular rack may be removed, and to all in- 
tents and purposes it is then an eccentric chuck ; 
or one or more of the jaws may be set at any dis- 
tance, by thus removing the rack and then re- 
placing it, they will move in unison in the manner 
in which they are placed. It is to be regretted 
that a chuck of this character is not made which 
can operate both concentrically and eccentrically, 
without the trouble and time required to change 
this one, as to do so it has to be taken entirely 
apart, and then put together for use. Several 
years ago a chuck was invented which was similar 
to the concentric chuck mentioned in all respects 



84 mechanic's tool book. 

but with the addition of a sliding ring placed in 
its rear, hearing upon the circular rack and hold- 
ing it in place ; a cam was made upon this ring 
for each jaw, and by turning it in one position the 
jaws were engaged so as to operate in unison, 
and by moving the ring to another position the 
the cams were made to disengage the circular 
rack from the gears attached to the screws of the 
jaws, and it was then free to be operated as an ec- 
centric chuck, each jaw working independent of 
its fellow. It would be presumed that it was an 
improvement that would have been speedily adopt- 
ed and much appreciated; but for some reason it 
was never generally adopted by mechanics, and it 
yet remains for some one to " bring out " this de- 
sideratum in a chuck. 

With all the advantages of concentric chucks 
there are some disadvantages. In the first one, 
described and known as the " scroll chuck," the 
dirt and debris of the workshop will get into the 
recesses which form the scroll, and so clog the 
projections of the jaws which are received in the 
sunken portion of the scroll that it is incapable of 
further use until it has been taken apart and the 
obstruction removed. Sometimes in endeavoring 
to move the jaws by force, when so clogged, the 
scroll is broken and the chuck ruined. In the 
concentric chuck, in which the jaws are moved by 
the circular rack, this objection does not exist; 
but there is another which is of some moment, for 
when the screws become worn by their action 



ECCENTRIC AND CONCENTRIC CHUCKS. 85 

through the tapped holes of the jaws, and if there 
be any play or backlash between the circular rack 
and the bevel-wheels on the screws, the positions 
of the work will vary according to this wear and 
backlash, upon its being removed and again in- 
serted, so that the jaws grasp it in a different 
place upon the circumference of the work from 
that in which it was first held. This chuck has 
one great advantage over the " scroll" chuck, in- 
asmuch as it is much lighter, being a thin shell, 
and only about one-half or two-thirds as thick as 
the scroll chuck. 

It would seem that if a chuck could be made 
which would be light and strong, positive and firm 
in every movement, and with no grooves or radial 
slots to catch dust and dirt, and at the same time 
capable of being used as a concentric and eccen- 
tric chuck, without being taken apart to effect this 
change, it would meet with favor in the mechani- 
cal world, and enable its inventor to reap a rich 
reward for his ingenuity. 



86 mechanic's tool book 



SAWS AND EOTAEY CUTTEES. 

The employment of saws and rotary cutters in 
the lathe is not a very general custom, more we 
suppose on account of no fixtures being provided 
with which to hold the work to be operated upon 
than for any other reason. Yet many such fixtures 
are cheaply and easily made. The first thing to 
be called in requisition is a steel spindle, which 
may be about eight or ten inches in length, nicely 
made with large-sized countersunk centers to fit 
the centers of the lathe. One end of the spindle 
is turned down for a little distance so as to form 
a shoulder, against which the saw or cutter finds 
a bearing, and is there confined by a nut screwed 
up against it. A steel spindle like this ought to 
be the accompaniment of every mechanic's tool- 
chest. 

The saws to be used upon this spindle may be 
made from pieces of sheet-steel, with holes bored to 
nicely fit the spindle, and then placed upon it and 
turned to the necessary size. By turning these 
blanks, as they are called, upon the spindle on 
which they are intended to be used, they will be 
sure to run true when at any time they are taken 



SAW AND ROTARY CUTTERS. 87 

off and replaced. If driven upon a mandrel and 
then turned, some trouble may be experienced, as 
the thin metal has not surface enough to hold them 
from rotating when the turning tool comes in con- 
tact with them, or, if the operation should be suc- 
cessful, the saw may not run true when placed 
upon the spindle to be used. Sheet-steel of any 
thickness can be obtained from which to make 
these saws, and then there will be no actual ne- 
cessity of turning their sides to get them true or 
of the proper thickness. If three or four of these 
pieces be drilled or bored to receive the spindle at 
the same time, and placed upon it in the same 
manner as they are to be used, they can all be 
turned in a little more time than it would require 
to make a single one, and by keeping them thus 
clamped together the cutting-teeth can be filed or 
cut at the same time with but little more labor 
than would be required to file or cut a single one. 
One of the advantages of using sheet-steel in 
preference to hammered, is that, by the formation 
of the sheets by rolling, a uniform density is se- 
cured, and there is less danger of warping and 
cracking than in the hammered plates, which by 
unequal degrees of density, induced by unequal 
pressure of the blows given, is sure to be warped 
and distorted when it comes from the fire in the 
process of tempering. One word upon the subject 
of tempering these saws. Many mechanics find it 
difficult to obtain a good or even temper in the 
saws which are used for nicking screws and similar 



88 mechanic's tool book. 

operations. And the larger the saw the more diffi- 
cult is the operation of tempering. When the 
saw is ready to harden, heat it evenly over a clean 
charcoal fire, turning it around in a horizontal 
position so as to insure an even temperature — do 
not let it reach a heat above a cherry-red color — 
and when that is attained, dip it evenly, also in a 
horizontal position, in a pan of good quality of 
lard or whale oil, and let it remain until it is of the 
same degree of temperature as the oil, and while it 
is cooling gently move it back and forth, so as to 
bring it in contact with fresh oil. When cooled 
remove it, letting as much oil stay upon its upper 
surface as will remain there, and hold it over a 
brisk, clear charcoal fire, moving it so as to ex- 
pose all the surface to the fire, and when the oil 
takes fires and JliU, as it will, over the surface of 
the saw, then remove it and let it gradually cool. 
The oil must not be allowed to blaze, or it will 
leave the saw too soft to cut the harder metals. 
If these directions are followed with care, a good 
and even temper will be produced, which will be 
satisfactory. Thicker cutters must be tempered 
by drawing them to such color as may be desirable 
for the work as in ordinary cutting tools. 



TO MAKE ROTARY CUTTERS. 



89 



TO MAKE EOTAEY OUTTEES. 



The usual method of forming the teeth of saws 
and rotary cutters to be used in the lathe, or 
otherwise, is to clamp them in the vise and form 
each tooth separately with a file. This is quite a 
laborious process, yet, by the aid of another prop- 
erly-shaped cutter and a simple fixture to hold the 
blank properly, the cutting of the teeth can be 
done in the lathe and the whole filing be dispensed 
with, except what little may be necessary to finish 
the points of the teeth. In the cutter, A, to form 




the teeth is rotated in the lathe, and the blank B, 
is held in a horizontal position about the hight of 



90 MECHANIC S TOOL BOOK. 

the cutter-spindle upon a piece of iron 0, which is 
held in the tool-post, D, of the lathe. The blank 
is placed upon a short stud, which is inserted in 
and is confined so as not to rotate by a nut 
which is screwed down upon it. By feeding the 
blank up to the cutter by means of the transverse 
screw which moves the lathe-carriage a cut can 
be taken, then run back, loosen, the nut turn the 
blank a sufficient distance to form a tooth, screw 
down the nut, run the blank up to the cutter, and 
a tooth is formed, and so proceed until the entire 
circumference of the blank is serrated. This fix- 
ture is probably the cheapest and simplest that 
can be made for this purpose. The divisions or 
distance from tooth to tooth must necessarily be 
made by the eye, yet for common cutters or saws 
it will be sufficiently accurate. 

We once had occasion to make a number of 
small saws of a little more than an inch in diame- 
ter which were required to form the groove in 
sewing machine needles. As the teeth of these 
little saws were somewhat tedious to form, and it 
was a necessity that they be formed equally 
around the periphery of the disk, we attempted the 
application of the knurl or milling tool for that 
purpose, and upon the trial being made with a sharp 
and deep-cut knurl it was every way successful, 
and in almost a moment of time the little blanks 
were easily made with the necessary teeth, which 
only required a little manipulating with a file to 
properly finish them. 



TO MAKE ROTARY CUTTERS. 91 

There is another method in which the teeth 
of saws may be formed. Turn and finish a hub in 
the same manner as hubs are formed for cutting 
screw-chasers, but let the shape of the spiral or 
screw be the reverse of the shape needed for the 
saw, then place the blank upon the fixture, as 
shown in Fig. 21, but fitted so as to revolve freely, 
and rotate the hub in the same manner as the 
spindle that carries the saw as shown in the cut. 
Upon moving the blank up to the hub, it will ro- 
tate the blank and form the teeth at the same time 
until the necessary depth of cut is taken. With 
this same arrangement and a hub of the proper 
form small geared wheels in thin metal may be 
quickly and cheaply made. 



92 mechanic's tool book. 



TO CUT A EACK IN THE LATHE. 

The mechanic may have occasion to make 
curved racks which are segments of circles, which 
may be found somewhat difficult to make, but by 
fastening these racks upon a disk of the same 
outside curvature and letting it rotate by the ac- 
tion of a hub the same as used for making screw 
cutting tools, the teeth may be rapidly made, and 
this simple apparatus will answer every purpose 
of a large and costly gear-cutter, with the advan- 
tage of operating much more expeditiously. 
Straight racks of thin metal may be made by 
means of the same apparatus, but the blank to be 
cut must move in a line parallel with the axial 
line of the revolving hub. No effort will be needed 
to assist the rack in passing over the hub, as the 
spiral lines which form its screw-like periphery 
will accomplish it, and as the blank passes along 
the teeth are cut. 

If the blanks to be cut in this way should be 
of very thin metal then an arm or a circular sup- 
port will be necessary to be placed under them to 
prevent the cutter or hub, whichever forms the 



TO CUT A RACK IN THE LATHE. 93 

teeth, from bending or springing the blank as it 
operates upon it. 

We have no doubt but that this principle of cut- 
ting gears and racks might be extended, and that 
gears which are designed with a hollow periphery 
to receive a screw or worm might be advan- 
tageously formed with a hub of suitable shape. 
If the attempt is made to cut gears or lathe cutters 
of a greater thickness than one-tenth of an inch, 
it will be necessary to provide some means to move 
the blank in a vertical direction as the cutting 
proceeds in order to equalize the depth of the cut 
and consequent length of the teeth. 



94 mechanic's tool book. 



TO OUT OFF METAL TUBES IN THE 
LATHE. 

Every mechanic knows how difficult it is to cue 
up iron tubes, as it is often necessary to do. The 
hack saw is generally used for this purpose, and 
much trouble is experienced in holding the tube to 
be cut, and there is no other appliance except the 
vise to hold it while using such a saw. These 
tubes may be cut in the lathe with great facility, 
in the manner as shown in Fig. 22. Select a piece 
of iron about the width and hight of the recess in 
the tool-post, and drill a hole through one end of 
it of a size to receive the diameter of the pipe. 
Insert this piece of iron in the tool-post in the 
same manner as a turning tool is placed, but with 
the hole upon the inner side or next to the saw. 
Insert the pipe in the hole, as shown in the en- 
graving, and run it up to the edge of the saw, and 
steadily feed it until the tube is severed; then 
run the tool-post back, push the tube through the 
hole the length you wish the next piece to be, and 
cut it off as j ust stated. This will be found a ready 
means of cutting up ferrules for tool-handles, and 
the same apparatus can be applied to cutting off 
small rods of brass or iron. If the tube or rod has 



TO CUT OFF METAL TUBES IN THE LATHE. 



95 



a tendency to rotate by the action of the saw, a 
lathe-dog can be placed upon its extremity, and it 
can be readily held in place and kept steady with 




Fig. 22. 

the hand. It is almost unnecessary to add that a 
less velocity of the saw must be adopted for iron 
than for brass, and it will be necessary to lubricate 
the teeth of the saw with oil while it is cutting 
iron, but for brass no oil will be needed. 



96 



MECHANIC S TOOL BOOK. 



KICKING SOEEWS IN THE LATHE. 



One example of the use of circular saws or cut- 
ters in the lathe is the nicking of screws and bolt- 
heads ; and an appliance to hold screws for ready 
manipulation represented in Fig, 23, is made by 




Fig. 23. 

inserting a block of iron in the tool-post of the 
lathe in a line with the axial line of the spindle 
which carries the saw. Upon a projecting end of 
this block is attached a lever at a right angle with 
the spindle. This lever which is hung upon a 
pivot and held in place by a nut, is capable of an 
oscillating motion. The end of the lever which 
projects towards the workman is sufficiently long 
to answer the purposes of a handle and is used as 
such, and the end nearest to the saw is drilled for the 



NICKING SCREWS IN THE LATHE. 97 

reception of the screws to be nicked. The body 
of the screw being inserted in the hole, it is pre- 
vented from further entrance by the projecting 
shoulder of the screw-head, and then, by lowering* 
the handle of the lever, the screw is passed verti- 
cally across the teeth of the saw, which cuts the 
nick to the necessary depth. It may be observed 
that it is essential that when the handle of the tool 
is in a horizontal position it must be of the same 
hight as the saw-spindle, or the screws will be 
nicked deeper on one side than on the other. 

A pair of tongs similar to a pair of blacksmith's 
tongs, and attached to the block by an extension 
which constitutes the part of the pivot that holds 
the tongs together, forms a very good arrangement 
for holding screws for nicking, and has an advan- 
tage over the lever, inasmuch as the screws can be 
tightly held and will drop from their places when 
nicked, by simply opening the jaws of the tongs. 

We once had some screws the heads of which 
required nicking, and, with the exception of the 
saw and its spindle in our tool chest, there was no 
means or appliance by which to accomplish the 
work. The emergency of the moment would not 
admit of tools being made. We straightened out 
the arm of a small wrought-iron lathe dog or carrier, 
and by inserting this arm in the tool-post of the 
lathe with the open end of the dog toward the saw, 
we could insert the screws in the aperture and con- 
fine them with the binding screw, and the nick was 
easily cut by running the tool-post back and forth 



98 mechanic's tool book. 

and consequently carrying the screw-head under 
the cutting edge of the saw. The operation was 
simple and easily accomplished. Other and more 
costly appliances are used for this purpose, but 
those we have mentioned furnish the most simple 
and easy one that can be made. 



DRILL-CIIUCKS. 99 



DEILL-CHUOKS. 

The common lathe and drill-press are the means 
usually employed for rotating drills ; but in the 
machine-shop of somewhat limited means the 
work of drilling is more generally performed in the 
lathe, the upright drill-press often being consid- 
ered a superfluous fixture. As a ready means of 
holding the drills in the lathe, a chuck is made 
that will fit into the lathe-spindle in the same 
place and in the same manner as the lathe-center is 
fitted and held. The shanks of the drill are 
made either square or round. The former form 
was once the only method used for large drills, 
but now that mode of fitting is nearly obsolete 
and the round shank is employed instead, and the 
drill is confined in the chuck by means of a set 
screw. It is quite necessary that the drill shanks 
should nicely fit the hole in the chuck, and a 
gauge is necessary to turn these shanks to the 
proper size. Fig. 12 shows a very convenient 
gauge for such purposes. The aperture A, will 
give the circumference of the shank when it is in 
course of manipulation ; and when the shank is 
inserted into the hole B, it will indicate if it will 



100 mechanic's tool book. 

be received in the hole in the drill-chuck, provided 
the diameters of the gauge and chuck apertures 
agree or correspond with each other. 

The best form of steel from which to make drills 
to fit this size chuck is the octagon, and of a diam- 
eter a little larger than what the round portion of 
the shank is to be when it is turned to fit the 
chuck, and an inch and a half is long enough to 
make the shank. A flat surface should be filed 
upon it for the purpose of giving the set screw a 
firm seat so as to retain the drill in place when it- 
is operating in the metal which it is designed to 
penetrate. A somewhat better method is to make 
a countersink, in which the point of the set-screw 
enters. This will hold it very firm with no fear of 
its giving away. 

An easy method of getting the exact size of 
drill shanks, after they are roughly turned up, is 
to run the shank into a " hollow mill" or "butt 
mill, " which revolves in the lathe and is made by 
drilling in a steel cylinder a hole of the same 
size as the drill-shank is required to be ; make a 
series of cutting lips upon the end extending from 
the hole to the circumference of the cylinder, then, 
when this tool is tempered and the drill-shank 
forced into the aperture, the lips will nicely 
" shave" away any superfluous metal. By using 
a little care the entire superfluity of metal may 
be removed to the exact size without the applica- 
tion of the turning tool. 

We have seen mechanics somewhat puzzled in 



DRILL-CHUCKS. 101 

attempts to produce a drill-chuck which when the 
shank was inserted in the lathe-spindle would tul 
perfectly true, so that when the drill was inserter 
the point of the drill would be exactly upon a lint 
with the axis of the spindle. Their method o 
making a chuck was to turn up the chuck ana 
then to drill the hole for the drills or perhaps drill 
the hole and then turn the chucks afterwards, 
using the hole as a center or countersink. 
But this is not the proper way to proceed. Drill 
the hole first and make it exactly as you wish it to 
be when finished. Then lit a piece of iron into the 
place where the lathe-center is fitted , have this 
piece project long enough to reach Me bottom of 
the hole in the chuck when the piece is turned 
down and the chuck is driven upon it ; rotate the 
chuck after it is driven on, and at the exact center 
of the rotation of the opposite or shank end there 
make the countersink upon which it must be turned 
Up. A little reflection will give the philosophy 
of this method of doing it, for if the unfinished 
chuck runs true upon the piece upon which it is 
driven it will certainly run true when finished in 
the drills inserted in the hole in which the iron 
was inserted. 

As the shanks of many kinds of chucks and 
similar tools which are inserted into the holes oc- 
cupied by the lathe centers are turned up with a 
regular decreasing diameter towards the end, they 
will fit the aperture in the lathe-spindle to a 
greater or less degree of insertion, according to 



102 mechanic's tool book. 

their size. If it should happen that a chuck of 
this kind should run a little out of true, it can be 
remedied by draw-filing the side of the shank 
which describes the circle of untruth towards the 
small end of the shank, and perform the same 
operation with the opposite side near where it en- 
ters the spindle. We have seen drill-chucks that 
run very much out of the required circle put into 
place by this simple method when any amount of 
hammering or bending would never true them. 

The best form of drill-chuck is made to screw 
upon the end of the lathe-spindle the same as the 
face-plate, and removed when the face-plate is re- 
quired to be put upon it. Fitted in this manner 
the chuck may be of cast-iron, and if it be 
subject to much wear it can be easily case-hard- 
ened with bone-dust or prussiate of potash. The 
former is preferable. To make this cast-iron 
• chuck, if there be no other means to hold it, place 
a piece of plank or board upon the face-plate of 
the lathe in the same manner as the chuck shown 
in Fig. 17 is fastened, turn a hole in the center of 
this piece of wood as it revolves, and when of a 
sufficient size drive the casting into the hole ; let 
it revolve without any support from the outer end, 
then face off this end, center it, drill the necessary 
sized hole, cut the screws inside to fit the lathe- 
spindle screw, and when thus far finished remove it 
from the wooden block, screw it upon the lathe- 
spindle, and then finish up the outside and drill 
the hole for the reception of the drill-shanks. 






DRILL -CHUCKS. 103 

This chuck is very strong, is not easily broken, 
and remains rigidly in place when the drill is em- 
ployed and in situations when the shank-chuck 
would be turned around, to the detriment of the 
lathe-socket, by too great a pressure being applied 
to the cutting-power of the drill. 

It is much better to attach fixtures to the lathe- 
spindle by means of the screw than to insert them 
in the socket where the turning-center is placed. 
It is necessary that this center should run true at 
all times, and when drills and chucks are inserted 
in its place, evil results may follow by their mar- 
ring the surface of this aperture, and the conse- 
quent rotation of the lathe-center out of a line 
with the axis of the spindle will be the probable 
result. 



104 mechanic's tool book. 



DEILLS. 

The drill is a tool which performs a very im- 
portant part in the workshop economy, yet, 
strange to relate, it is the tool upon which the 
least care and attention is bestowed, and its form 
and fabrication is considered of but secondary im- 
portance. We have seen drills in some machine- 
shops, and. that, too, in shops where good work 
was produced, which were not drills, but poor 
apologies for that useful tool. The time has been 
when almost any form of steel, flat, square, round, 
or octagon, would do for drills, and the forging 
and finishing up of the drill would be a matter of 
as little consequence, and with this most misera- 
ble abortion of a tool, good work and nicely bored 
holes were supposed to be made. That the holes 
were made is very true, but what degree of truth, 
nicety, or accuracy, no comments are needed or 
required. 

The machine-made twist drills are fast supersed- 
ing the flat drill, aud where they are once intro- 
duced into a machine-shop they are preferred to all 
other kinds. Let any mechanic compare the cut- 
ting edge of the flat with the twist drill, and the su- 



DRILLS. 105 

periority of the latter will be apparent. The flat 
drill presents a scraping edge to the metal to be 
penetrated, while the twist drill has a cutting angle 
which very nearly approaches the form of the cut- 
ting edge of the lathe tool. When these two tools 
are used in cast-iron it is observed with what ease 
and rapidity the twist drill penetrates, and when 
used in wrought-iron or brass, long and extended 
spiral chips will follow up the twist drill groves, 
showing that it is indeed a cutting tool ; when if 
the same effort be made with the flat drill in the 
same material, no such spiral chips are the result, 
rough fragments of the metal being forced off, 
which shows that it is nothing more or less than 
the effect of a scraping process. It requires a 
nicely made flat drill to produce as true and 
smooth a hole as even a badly made twist drill 
will execute. 

We have ghjen directions in the chapter upon 
gauges, callipers, etc., how to make and finish the 
shanks or drills, and we recommended the octagon 
bars of steel from which to make them, and of a 
diameter of a half inch to correspond with the 
gauge which we have there shown. We have al- 
ways found it advantageous and economical to 
cut up bars of this sized steel into lengths of 
from six to eight inches and then turn up the 
shanks and fit to the chuck a dozen or two of 
these pieces at a time, and then they are ready fit- 
ted to be made into drills whenever occasion re- 
quires. If the drills are the size of the steel, they 



106 mechanic's tool book. 

should be when drawn down at the forge of an 
average length of about eight inches. This length 
is a good proportion and better in practice than 
either a longer or shorter drill. If it be required to 
make around or twist drill, it is convenient to 
take one of these pieces and turn the body to the 
size and then fashion it to suit the work. 

The flat drill should not only be flat at the point 
but have its body also flat, so that the chips or 
borings may be carried around with the rotation 
of the drill and not be ground between its sides 
and the metal which the point is penetrating. The 
cutting point must be made thin so as to more 
easily penetrate, and in process of working this 
point must be kept thin and sharp, otherwise a 
ragged hole will be the result. The form of the 
point of the drill should be such that the two lines 
should meet at 90°, or, what is more explicit, ex- 
actly fit the inner angle of the fitting or try- 
square, which is an angle of 90°, or one-fourth of 
the circle. There is another advantage in shap- 
ing the points of drills in this way with the 
square ; a measurement from the body of the drill 
to the arms of the square, when the square is ap- 
plied, will give an index of the proportion of the 
lines of the point as regards their equal length, 
and this measurement is easily ascertained by the 
eye. This exactness is important in a good cut- 
ting drill, as both sides must perform their pro- 
portion of the work. The cutting angle should 
meet the face at 60°, but a variation may be made 



DRILLS. 



107 



in regard to this according to the hardness or 
other characteristics of the metal to be pene- 
trated ; a harder metal requiring less acuteness of 




Fig. 24. 

cutting angle. When the drills are dull and are 
ground, let the same gauge which is shown in Fig. 
24 be applied to ascertain the form of point. 

Another method of using the drill is to insert 
the back or dead center in the countersink at the 
end and hold it fast with a wrench, and apply it 
to the work which rotates in the lathe chuck or 
some other fixture. These drills may conveniently 
be made of bars of flat steel about eight inches 
long and of a width and thickness to correspond 
with the work. The center or countersink which 
is to enter the center of the lathe should be made 
large, so that there will be no danger of its slip- 



108 mechanic's tool book. 

ping out of place if it should be found necessary 
to slightly turn the center back, as is often done 
to free the drill from clips. We have seen old 
files used for these drills, and also seen old files 
drawn down to make common flat drills ; but we 
must express a hearty contempt for such a slov- 
enly method of producing a tool, which when 
made may well be regarded with disgust by every 
mechanic of taste who has any pride in the ap- 
pearance or working of his tools. 

The step from the old fashioned flat drill to that 
of the improved twist drill, is one of the boldest 
leaps in mechanical science, and may be compared 
to a single stride from a tool of an ignorant 
age to the finished implement of the enlightened 
period. When we take a look at their forms and 
compare them, we see at a glance the imperfec- 
tions of the flat drill and the superior qualities of 
the twist drill. In the flat drill, as it revolves in 
the metal that it has to penetrate, it forces a por- 
tion of the material before it by a direct action, 
rubbing it off, as it were, by the applied pow r er ; 
the cutting lip presenting an edge at a right angle 
with the work. Give a lathe tool to a mechanic, 
with the same form and angle, to " turn up" a 
piece of iron work, and if he understands the 
nature of the material he is to operate upon, he 
will throw the tool from him as if you had offered 
him a premeditated insult. He knows very well 
that there is no " cut" in that form of tool. It 
may, by abrasion , reduce the work upon which it 



DRILLS. 109 

is employed, but it will not cut it. But give the 
same mechanic a drill made with the very same 
angle of cutting lip, and he will use it in his work 
with no feeling of a detraction of his dignity. He 
probably never gave a thought to the effect of the 
form of the cutting edges, as presented to the 
resisting metal. He knows the best shape of a 
good turning tool, and his experience tells him 
that the point of the instrument must run under 
the metal like a wedge, and lift it qff&s the cutting 
point advances, and not scrape it away by direct 
applied force against the resisting face — not cutting 
edge— of the tool. 

Show a twist drill to the mechanic, and conrpare 
the cutting angles of the two instruments, and he 
will readily see that the cutting lip of the twist 
drill is almost an exact form of his well-made turn- 
ing tool. In operation he will observe that, in- 
stead of the abraded chip of the flat drill, it will 
be a clean and smooth-cut ribbon of the metal that 
is thrown up the spiral grooves of the drill as it 
penetrates into the material. The peculiar ad- 
vantages of the twist drill are not generally known 
throughout the country ; but where they are once 
introduced they are soon appreciated, and applied 
to the exclusion of the flat drill. Some of the ad- 
vantages of the twist drill are that it will always 
bore a hole that is perfectly cylindrical, when the 
flat drill will not always do this. The ease with 
which a twist drill cuts is another recommendation, 
and the strength of them, compared to the flat 



110 mechanic's tool book. 

drill, is still another good quality. When the twist 
drill is broken, it can be easily put in order at the 
grindstone, if it has been properly made, and will 
operate as well and be of the same size as when 
first employed. 

Twist drills, although they are a recent article of 
commerce, are not a new form of tool. They have 
been used by the manufacturing gun-maker and 
the sewing-machine workman for the past twenty 
years ; but their application beyond these certain 
trades has been very rare until within the past 
five years. Now their use bids fair to become 
general. The introduction of them also tends to 
greater accuracy of work, as well as a step toward 
a system of sizes of gauges in forming holes, as the 
manufacturer of twist drills make them of the dif- 
ferent sizes of steel wire, or increasing by the di- 
visions as marked upon the standard inch, and the 
mechanic must necessarily form his bolts and 
turned work to fit these holes with some degree 
of accuracy. 



TWIST DRILLS. Ill 



TWIST DKILLS. 

The flat drill is quickly and easily made. The 
twist drill requires time and some skill to form. 
The flat drill can be made larger by spreading the 
cutting point by means of the forge Are, but the 
twist drill once made is a tool of a constant size ; 
it cannot be enlarged or reduced without spoiling 
it. So we see why, in many shops where miscella- 
neous work is done, the flat drill has the preference, 
but in shops where gauges and constant sizes of 
work are made and expedition is a requisite, the 
twist drill may be used to great advantage. 

Within a few years the manufacture of twist 
drills has become an established business, and any 
one wishing such drills can purchase them at the 
stores where tools are kept and sold. Some of 
these drills increase by the sizes of the wire 
gauge, so that the holes made will fit the wire 
purchased if such a fit should be needed. They 
are also made to increase by sixty-fourths of the 
inch, but as an improvement on those sizes we 
would recommend that they be made of sizes in- 
creasing by the decimal divisions of the inch, or 
by tenths and hundredths, etc. As it is custom- 



112 mechanic's tool book. 

ary in some places and more particularly on what 
is known as " government work," to "layout" 
work by the decimal divisions and in prospect of 
this division measurement becoming a standard, 
it would be no more than just that these drills be 
made by these divisions, and when made have their 
sizes marked upon the shanks. 

The larger sizes of these drills as manufactured 
have taper shanks which are inserted in chucks 
made to fit the lathe, but the smaller sizes are not 
thus made ; the shanks are of cylindrical form, of 



Fig. 25. 

the same size as the drill, and, as they vary thus, 
small concentric chucks are needed to hold them 
when used for drilling. Several forms of these 
chucks are easily obtained from the same source 
as the drills. 

If the mechanic desires to make a twist drill for 
himself, there are two methods by which to accom- 
plish it— by forging or by cutting it from the solid 
metal. A good drill may be formed by either 
method. One thing must be borne in mind : if 
too little twist be given, it will approach too near 
to the flat drill and will be but little more effective 
than that form ; while, on the other hand, if too 
much twist be given, the cutting edge presented 
will be too acute — breaking or crumbling away 



TWIST DRILLS. 113 

before the resisting metal. Some years ago, a 
manufactory employed one of its workmen to 
make a set of costly twist drills which were in- 
tended as standards of size for the series of holes 
in a sewing machine ; but unfortunately the 
mechanic who made them formed them with too 
much twist, and the constant breaking of the thin 
cutting lip and the difficulty of keeping them in or 
der gave twist drills a bad repute, and they were 
thrown aside. We mention this as an instance of 
a fault to be guarded against. Better make them 
too straight than too much twisted. 

If it be required to make a drill from the solid 
metal, let the mechanic turn a cylinder of the size 
he wishes the drill and then with a small round 
file cut out and finish the grooves. We must ad- 
mit the round file is not just the tool to do this 
with ; a flat file with round edges is better, and to 
prevent the teeth on the flat surface from spoiling 
the sharp edges of the grooves which are to be re- 
tained it will be necessary to grind the flat sides 
of the file upon a grindstone until the cutting edge 
of the teeth is destroyed. 

To form a twist drill by forging is more difficult. 
It is necessary to forge a flat blade similar to a 
flat drill and then twist this blade into the sem- 
blance required ; then, with a light hammer and 
careful blows, hammer the twisted edges so that 
they will be thicker than the central line of the 
tool. This will give greater strength and a better 
drill, and to cut well, the central line or cutting 



114 mechanic's tool book. 

point must be made quite thin. Be careful to get 
the same twist at the point of the drill as upon the 
body of the drill. We mention this as the inex- 
perienced often leave the point straight, with no 
twist, like a flat drill. 

When the drill is forged there are two ways of 
finishing it up : — By turning it true and of a proper 
size in the lathe, or by running it into a "butt 
mill" or " end tool," which is represented in Fig. 
26, and consists of a cylinder of steel with a hole 
made through it of the size that the drill is to be, 
and with teeth cut upon the end of the cylinder 




Mg. 26. 

which is to be presented for the entrance of the 
drill forging. When the tool is thus made it is 
nicely tempered. To use it place the forging for 
the drill in the chuck where it is to rotate when 
used, then hold the tool with a wrench or any con- 
venient mode of retaining it and enter the point 
of the drill as it revolves in the chuck and forcibly 
press the drill into the aperture of the mill. The 
cutting teeth of the " mill " will form the drill of 
a true cylindrical form. It may be necessary to 
form the forging like a V at the point, so that it 
will readily and centrally enter the hole of the 
mill, and while it is cutting away the surplus sur- 



TWIST DRILLS. 115 

face, oil must be supplied or the delicate teeth of 
the tool will be destroyed. When the drill is thus 
14 sized," as it is termed, remove it from the lathe 
and tile it up as before described, and temper to 
suit the purpose for which it is needed. 

Twist drills are now made a special manufacture 
by some concerns, who furnish them at such prices 
that, unless to fill up spare time, it will be hardly 
worth while for any machinist or other mechanic 
to manufacture them for himself. 



116 mechanic's tool book. 



BOEING TOOLS. 

Boring tools are employed to enlarge holes 
which have been previously made by means of the 
drill or casting aperture by means of cores. A 
drill of larger size than the existing holes is often 
used for the enlargement of such holes, but un- 
less some extraordinary circumstance demands it, 
this method will not be used or tolerated by a 
workman who calls himself a good mechanic. As 
the drill has no central steadying point on which 
to revolve, it cuts in uncertain circles, and as it 
removes the metal it chatters and trembles, and 
when it has completed its work the result is a 
polygonal aperture of which even a raw apprentice 
ought to be ashamed. 

A very good tool for enlarging holes is the one 
here represented, which is termed a " counter- 
bore," or "pin drill," or, as it is called in some 
shops, a " sweep." The tool is fitted to the chuck 
in the same way as the drill and is held in like 
manner by the shank ; the opposite or cutting end 
is flattened and turned to a diameter exactly of 
the size of the hole required. This flat portion 
may extend up for two inches or more toward the 



BORING TOOLS. 



117 



shank. At the end where the tool enters the 
metal a " tip " or "pin " is made, which must be 
turned of the same size as the existing hole it 




Fig. 27. 

must enter. The cutting lips, <?, c, of the tool are 
sloped back with a file so as to form a cutting 
edge, of about 60°. On the advancing edge or 
side, a recess, 0, is hollowed with a small round 
file so as to give the cutting lip more of the form 
of a cutting tool. The end of the tip is serrated 
or cut with teeth, so that if the tip should bind in 
the hole as the work progresses, their serrated 
edge will cut away the metal which would other- 
wise bind, and it will be permitted to pass easily 
and free through the metal. A set of these tools 
ought to be as much of a standard as reamers and 
made of similar standard sizes. In a dozen of 
these tools made of as many different diameters, 
there need be only about three sizes of tip, so that 
that number of twist drills will form a hole ready 
and accurate to receive the tip. One word of cau 
tion to the mechanic. The hole in which the tip 
is to work must be of the same diameter as the tip 



118 mechanic's tool book. 

in order to so steady the cutting-lips of the tool 
that a hole perfectly true will be the result. This 
tool works ready and rapid when properly made 
and gives very good results. 

The counter-bore proper is a cylinder turned of 
the required size of the hole it is to produce, with 
a tip formed similar to the tool we have just de- 
scribed, and the cutting edges, which should be 
three or four, formed by circular grooves of a 
twist drill. This tool is much stronger than the 
flat counter-bore, and will cut much steadier ; it is 
more costly to make, and unless it is wished for a 
standard size of hole, of which a larger number 
are required, it is seldom made. It is commonly 
met with in the rifle factories, in pistol shops, and 
is also used in the manufacture of sewing machines. 

Another form of boring tool may be cheaply 
made by turning a steel rod and fitting it to the 
chuck in the same manner as the drill, then make 
a mortise through the end opposite the shank ; 
into this mortise insert a detachable blade or cut- 
ter, and confine it by means of a key driven in 
above the blade. The tip may be serrated in the 
manner as described for the flat counter bore, 
and made so that it will lit the drills as used with 
that tool. About three of these rods so fitted 
will be all that will be needed for small work. 
The cutters of course may be made of any size 
that is needed. If a bar of steel be purchased of 
the thickness and width proper to make these cut- 
ters it may be annealed, and by cutting off pieces 



BORING TOOLS. 119 

with a hack-saw of the length of the diamater of 
the hole to be made, much labor will be saved. 

If it be necessary to bore out a hole with this 
tool and the tip be much less than the hole, a ring 
or collar made of iron, brass, or even wood, may 
be made to fit the hole and placed upon the tip, 
and it will be found to work quite satisfactorily. 

There is another tool which is much used in 
some shops and is admirably adapted to form 
smooth and nice holes, and it operates as well in 
large holes as in small ones. It may be used 
either in the chuck like a drill or placed against 
the dead-center while the work is revolving and 
urged into the hole by means of the tail screws of 
the lathe. Make a blade of steel thick enough so 
that it will not twist or spring in the work, turn 
the edges nicely and also square up the end, but 
somewhat round the angles of the corners and 
fashion the cutting edges. When it is thus made, 
place two pieces of hard wood one upon each side 
of fiat surface, and fasten them in place by means 
of two screws, which pass through the wood and 
steel blade. The wood must be turned and shaped 
of the same diameter as the steel blade. In oper- 
ation the wood follows the cutting edge and serves 
to keep the advancing edge steady, and holds it 
true to its w r ork. It is an excellent substitute 
for the reamer in holes and for boring out work 
where the apertures are too large to enable the 
reamer to be made and used to advantage. 

In the boring tools which we have mentioned the 



120 mechanic's tool book. 

"tip" or entering portion must follow the hole 
previously made, and the tools are commonly ro- 
tated in the lathe by being inserted in the lathe- 
chuck and the work held against the dead-spindle 
which is forced forward by the tail screw, the 
work advancing as the tool cuts away the metal 
presented for its action. The operation may be 
reversed and the work rotated in a chuck attached 
to the live spindle and the tools may be held against 
the dead-center, which is advanced, the tool being 
kept from rotating by the force of the cut by at- 
taching a dog or driver to the shank of the tool 
and. letting the arm of the driver rest against the 
lathe-shear. 



THE BORING BAR. 121 



THE BOEING BAE. 

We have given examples of boring tools which 
are designed to follow a hole previously made, en- 
larging it to a size corresponding to the diameter 
of the tool, cutting out a circle of the metal of 
equal thickness upon all sides. It is often found 
necessary to remove portions of metal of which 
the previously made hole is not the center of the 
circle which the tool is to traverse, and the 
methods used are entirely different from those pre- 
viously noticed. An implement called the boring- 
bar is the tool used for this purpose. 

To make the boring-bar, select a steel or iron 
rod of suitable length and diameter. For the 
general jobbing-shop about two feet in length and 
an inch and three-quarters or two inches in diame- 
ter will be found suitable. For longer Avork of 
course a longer rod must be used, and for a 
smaller hole than two or two and a half inches a 
smaller rod is necessary ; but for holes of less than 
two inches diameter, unless it be necessary to bore 
them eccentric to their circumferences, the boring 
tools already described may be more advantage- 
ously employed. Having selected the bar, proceed 



122 mechanic's tool book. 

to square up its ends and center them to corres- 
pond to the form of the center of the lathe, and be 
sure to make the centers very deep, so that the 
springing of the bar or a sudden interruption of its 
course will not cause it to fly out from between its 
bearings as it turns upon the lathe centers. When 




Fig. 28. 

the bar is turned true and nice, make a suitable mor- 
tise, of the form of a parallelogram in the central 
portion of the bar, in which to place a movable 
cutter, and form a gib or key to drive in behind 
the cutter so as to hold it firmly in place. These 
cutters must be made of the size of the intended 
hole, and may be formed with cutting edges at 
each end, so that one end will remove the rough 
chip and the opposite end will produce the finished 
surface. The form of these cutting points will be 
fashioned by the mechanic to best suit his ideas 
of a cutting tool, and as they operate similar to a 
lathe-turning tool, the hint may perhaps not be 
lost in mentioning it. 

Preparatory to using the boring bar, the first 
thing necessary is to ascertain if the lathe be set 



THE BORING BAR. 123 

so as to turn a true cylinder or a cylinder of the 
same size at each end. To do this, take a rod 
of about two feet long, place it in the lathe and 
turn an inch or two at one end, reverse the rod 
and run the tool and carriage to that end to ascer- 
tain if the poiut of the tool corresponds to the cut 
made ; if so the lathe-centers are " set true " — if 
not, move the tail-block "in or out "until they 
are so, as may be ascertained by trying the rod. 

The next operation is to place the work, suppos- 
ing it to be a small engine cylinder, upon the lathe 
carriage, as the work must move in a horizontal 
line while the tool performs its rotary motion. A 
piece of hard-wood plank may be fixed to the 
lathe carriage by means of bolts and the work may 
be secured to this piece of plank. The means of 
fastening it thus will best suggest themselves to 
the workman. After this is done insert the boring 
bar with the cutter ready fixed, and see that the 
bar is snugly set, but not too tight, upon the lathe- 
centers ; it must be free to turn, yet not bind. To 
ascertain if the tool will cut the desired circle, 
revolve it slowly close to the work and note the 
circle it makes, then remove the work, by raising 
or otherwise, until it is as desired. The opposite 
end of the work maybe tried in the same manner. 
See that all is made fast and correct, and then run 
the work up to the cutter, throw the feed into 
gear, and let the cutter begin to operate. 

During the first or rough cut the bar will spring 
somewiiat and the surface of the hole will be 



124 mechanic's tool book. 

marked with the " chattering" of the tool ; but to 
finish the hole a second cut must be taken, using 
another tool of a larger diameter than the first 
one, and use it with a faster speed and a moderate 
degree of feed force. It requires a little experi- 
ence to use this tool, and we would recommend to 
young mechanics to observe the " modus operandi" 
of older and more experienced workmen and make 
a note of what they see, lay it by until they are 
called upon to do a like piece of work, then per- 
haps a trifle of showing from some one who is ex- 
pert may be all the help they require. 

Where a boring bar is to be used for a succes- 
sion of holes of about the same size, an iron disk 
may be fixed to the bar about midway between its 
ends, and mortises made in its periphery in which 
the cutters are inserted. The cutting edges of 
these cutters should be about 60°. We would re- 
commend three, five, or seven as the proper num- 
ber of these cutters, according to the size of the 
disk. An odd number of cutters work steadier 
in the metal they cut away than an even number. 
For small holes three are sufficient. The projec- 
tion of the cutting edge beyond the disk need not 
be more than one-fourth or one-half of an inch. 
When taken out to be sharpened, small pieces of 
card or writing paper may be inserted at the base 
where they rest in the recess of the disk to com- 
pensate for the surface reduced by grinding. By 
holding a point tool near them as they revolve it 
will be easily ascertained how much packing is 



THE BORING BAR. 125 

necessary to bring them to form the required circle 
of rotation. 

Where work can be chucked or made to revolve 
upon the face plate of the lathe, as pulleys, etc., 
a ready means presents itself of using the turn- 
ing tool as it is set in the tool-post, and the feed 
of the lathe to move it forward to bore out the 
hole as wanted. One difficulty in this method is 
that the turning-tool must be made so long 
and slender that it is subject to much spring and 
chattering, and the result is not at all times as 
good as desired. With the exception of holes of 
no great depth, we regard it as a poor method of 
forming a hole. Better by far use the boring bar, 
the reamer, or some of the other forms of boring 
tools as described. 



126 mechanic's tool book. 



EEAMEES. 

Whek the flat drill is used to make a hole, so 
little confidence is placed in the result that it is 
generally taken for granted that the hole produced 
is neither straight nor cylindrical ; and the reamer 
is introduced to finish what the drill did not pro- 
duce. 

Many forms of reamers are made and used. We 
have seen flat bars of steel, made slfghtly taper, 
and then tempered for use. Such an implement 
may enlarge a hole to a certain diameter, but it is 
a tool that no good mechanic will willingly use. 
It operates about as accurately to produce a true 
cylindrical hole as the flat drill. The square 
reamer is used in many shops, and is but little 
better than the flat one. The right-angled corners 
which are presented to enlarge the aperture are 
not "cutting angles," but are " scraping edges." 
Give a tool with the same form of cutting edge to 
a workman to turn an iron spindle or turn out a 
hole in an iron plate, and he will throw the tool 
away in disgust, and make one which will have a 
cutting edge of a more acute angle ; yet this same 



REAMERS. 127 

workman will, perhaps, employ the square reamer, 
and think no better form is needed. 

Another kind of reamer is made of a half cylin- 
drical form, and is a great improvement upon the 
flat and square shaped tool. Its cutting edges are 
more of the form of a cutting tool, and when 
pressed up to the work it takes a rank hold and 
tears out large chips. In rough work, as boiler 
plates, or fitting sheets of metal together, or ream- 
ing out holes AYhich have been made by means of 
cold punching, or at the smith's forge, perhaps no 
better tool could be employed. It also has the 
merit of being cheaply made, and is strong enough 
to bear rough usage, and another advantage, it 
can be easily sharpened by grinding it on the flat 
side upon the common grindstone. 

For small holes, as in clock and watch-work, 
small pentagonal and five-sided reamers are used, 
which are purchased at the hardware stores. These 
reamers may do very well to smooth out a hole, 
and in thin material will enlarge a hole sufficiently ; 
but for holes of any length they are of but little 
use if the hole is not true and straight, for if the 
hole be of any great length and crooked, the 
reamer will produce an oval rather than a round 
hole. Reamers of this form have no place in the 
machine-shop. 

The best form of reamer in use is the fluted one. 
To make it, a cylinder of steel is turned in the 
lathe, and the blades are cut out of the solid metal 
either by a planing or milling machine. In the 



128 mechanic's tool book. 

former case a reciprocating tool is moved over the 
surface of the cylinder, and in the latter the cylin- 
der is moved under a rotating circular cutter. One 
fault in making these fluted reamers is that they 
are often made with too many teeth or cutting 
edges, and the hole produced is not of an exact 
cylindrical form, but looks as if composed of an- 
gles which form a polygon. We have seen these 
reamers with upward of a dozen cutting lips ; but 
better work can be done if they only contain about 
five or seven cutting edges. 

One form of reamer may be made cylindrical 
with a single lip, and it is capable of producing a 
very nice hole, but does not work so expeditiously 
as the many-lip ped reamer. It is made by turning 
up a cylinder of steel of the required size, and 
then plane or mill a round groove the length of 
the cutting portion ; one side of this cut forms the 
cutting edge ; then plane away the opposite side 
about half way around the length of the cylinder, 
and when the cutting lip is filed up it is ready to 
be tempered for use. 

Another form of reamers are called rose reamers^ 
or rose heads, and they are used for enlarging holes 
that have been cored out, and cannot be enlarged 
otherwise except by chucking the work and turn- 
ing out the hole. These reamers are generally 
made of short cylinders of steel, with a hole 
through their centers, into which an arbor or spin- 
dle is fitted, and the face or end of the cylinder 
presented to the work is cut with numerous teeth. 



REAMERS. 129 

As the corners of the teeth are apt to wear and 
become injured, it is best to turn off a portion of 
these corners in the lathe and make the cutting 
lips to extend across the angle so produced and a 
little way up the side of the cylinder. One disad- 
vantage in the use of this tool is, that when the 
edges of the teeth are worn, where they extend 
upon the side of the tool, it is apt to bind in the 
work. 

With this last kind of reamer quite large holes 
may be produced of a true cylindrical form. With 
proper cutter-heads, or heads in which detached 
cutters may be used, so that when worn or broken 
they may be replaced, the largest cored holes may 
be bored out. They work much faster than the 
boring bar or the single turning tool, and we be- 
lieve that there is no limit to the size of hole in 
which they may be employed. 



130 



MECHANIC S TOOL BOOK. 



TO OUT OE GEOOVE EEAMEES, TAPS, &o. 

It is often found necessary to cut the groove in 
reamers, rose-heads, taps, etc., and in those shops 
where the planer and milling machine have not 
yet found a place, the file is resorted to and often 
the assistance of the cold-chisel is brought into 
requisition ; but the whole process is tedious and 
one that the mechanic dislikes to perform. When 
these reamers have long taper shank or shanks of 
a constant size, intended to be inserted in the 
spindle of the lathe or the drill-press, this shank 
can be fitted to a simple appliance and the neces- 
sary grooves can be cut in the engine lathe. 

This apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying 




Fig. 29. 

engraving, and it consists in an iron casting about 
six inches long, three inches wide, and about the 



TO CUT OR GROOVE REAMERS, ETC. 131 

same in bight. This casting is made fast to the 
tool-post block of the lathe by a bolt, the head of 
which is retained in the slot usually occupied by 
the base of the tool-post, the body of the bolt pass- 
ing through the hole B, and a nut upon the upper 
end holding it securely in place. Through the 
two upright projections of this casting are made 
the holes seen upon the line, 0, and these holes 
must correspond to the form of the shank of the 
reamer. After the reamer has been turned, the 
shank fitted to the socket it is to occupy, and the 
other extremity is ready to be cut, remove the 
tool-post of the lathe and attach the casting in the 
manner just mentioned, insert the shank in the 
holes, letting the end to be cut project at D, and 
a light blow upon this end will fix it firmly in place. 
Then, with a suitably-shaped cutter revolving be- 
tween the lath-centers, and by raising the back 
end of the lathe-carriage until it is of sufficient 
hight for the cutter to form the necessary groove, 
the blank is run under the cutter and a nice groove 
is the result. A light blow upon the end of the 
shank of the reamer frees it from its place, when 
it may be turned the proper distance for another 
groove or to form one tooth, and another cut is 
taken. 

These divisions maybe male by the eye or they 
can be marked by means of a pair of callipers, and 
scribed lines drawn, which can be easily followed 
with the cutter. These divisions can be made 
tolerably accurate in the lathe after the blank is 



132 mechanic's tool book. 

turned and before it is removed, by taking the 
teeth of the large geared wheel of the back-gear 
arrangement as an index and scribing longitudinal 
lines upon the reamer by the aid of a rest used as 
a ruler, turning the wheel a certain number of the 
teeth and then retaining it and scribing the line, 
and then turning it and scribing again. We 
remember once fluting some reamers by holding 
them in the tool-post similar to the turning-tool, 
and supporting the projecting end to be cut with 
a block of wood. But the apparatus we have de- 
scribed is probably the cheapest fixture for this 
purpose that the mechanic can employ, and it is 
best adapted to that class of reamers which are 
made with a long and tapering shanks ; but if the 
shanks are straight a set screw inserted in one of 
the projections of the casting will be needed to 
retain them in place. 

It is often necessary to cut screw taps and similar 
tools which have no long shanks, and a fixture can 
be made consisting of a casting with an upward 
projection at each end, and of a distance apart 
sufficient to take in the tool to be cut, and of a 
hight sufficient to enable the cutter to reach the 
requisite depth upon the tool, which is supported 
upon two centers, one on either end. This fixture 
is to be bolted to the lathe-carriage in such man- 
ner that it can be run back and forth with the car- 
riage under the cutter, and the groove can be thus 
very easily made. The exercise of a little ingenu- 
ity will enable the mechanic to cut mills, reamers, 



TO CUT OR GROOVE REAMERS, ETC. 133 

or rose-heads of almost any form and with such 
precision that but little filing "will be needed to 
finish them up for use. 

A different form of this principle which we have 
illustrated may be made applicable to cutting 
gears as well as mills, by inserting through the 
holes of the line, 0, a fixed spindle having at the 
end, D, a shoulder against which the work finds 
a bearing and is retained by a nut To the oppo- 
site end of the spindle is fastened a small index- 
plate, and a catch is applied to enter the divisions 
of this plate, retaining it at any one of them while 
the cutter is operating on the blank. We must 
admit this is a comparatively imperfect substitute 
for a gear-cutter, yet when access cannot be had to 
a tool of that kind, as is often the case, such a 
substitute will in many cases serve a good pur- 
pose. 



134 mechanic's tool book. 



A GEAE-CUTTING AEEANGEMENT. 

Unless the cutting of gear-wheels is made a 
specialty, the services of a gear-cutter in the ma- 
chine-shop are not often requisite. The mechanic 
of limited means, whose occupation is " jobbing," 
as it is termed, which implies that work of all 
grades and kinds, and often of a nondescript char- 
acter, is a " specialty," and the model-maker who 
works in metals, often wish for the assistance of 
a gear-cutter, yet the number of times which it 
would be used are so few that it will not pay to 
expend any great amount of money for such a 
tool. Yet if some simple arrangement be made 
that could be easily and quickly fitted to the en- 
gine lathe, and answer every purpose of a gear- 
cutter, it would be acceptable to every machine- 
shop where there is no gear-cutter, as it would be 
useful not only for cutting an occasional gear, but 
also the rotary cutters to be used in the lathe and 
milling machine. 

It is seldom that wheels of a greater size than a . 
foot in diameter or less than an inch are required 
to be cut, and the arrangement we show in Fig, 
30 will accomplish it, and the fixture can be made 



A GEAR-CUTTING ARRANGEMENT. 135 

at a comparatively small expense. The base, A, 
is made of cast-iron, and is intended to be bolted 
to the tool-post block of an engine lathe, or it may 
be attached to a slide-rest, and used in a hand- 
lathe. In either case the tool-post must be re- 
moved, and the head of a bolt, fitted into the re- 
cess occupied by the tool-post, has its body in- 
serted into the hole, B, and a nut screwed upon 
the thread of this bolt holds the fixture firm in 
place. Within the uijright, 0, which is a part of 
the casting, A, a longitudinal slot or groove, D, 
extends nearly its entire length, and fitted trans- 
versely upon this upright is another casting, E, 
which is fastened by means of a bolt to 0. By 
the arrangement of the slot, D, this casting can 
be raised or lowered to suit the size of gear or 
depth of groove to be cut. It can also be turned 
upon the bolt as on a pivot, and so fastened at an 
angle, and a bevel or a miter- wheel can be cut as 
readily as a straight one. The casting, E, is 
drilled at each of its projecting end-pieces to re- 
ceive a shaft, E, which is fitted to revolve in its 
place, and the end which will be presented toward 
the cutter is made to receive the blank gear, which 
is fitted upon a spindle which is inserted in an 
aperture in that end of the shaft, similar to the 
manner in which other gear-cutters are fitted. 

To the opposite end of the spindle is attached 
an index-plate, which is to be retained in any one 
of its divisions by means of a catch, which can be 
arranged upon the apparatus in any manner which 



136 



mechanic's tool book. 



may seem the most convenient and effectual. If 
in the operation of cutting a gear a liability to 
spring be perceived, or if the catch be insufficient 
to hold the blank steadily in place, a set-screw, 
H, can be screwed down upon the bearing of the 
shaft, and there will be no danger of its moving. 




Fig. 30. 

In the absence of an index-plate, a geared wheel 
having the necessary number of teeth, can be put 
upon the end of the shaft made for the index- 
plate, and it will answer every purpose. 

It is necessary to run the blank gear to be cut 
over or above the cutter which is to form the teeth, 
as the hight of the lathe-spindle which carries the 
cutter is not often sufficient to admit of the blank 
being carried underneath it. There is another 
advantage in this arrangement — as the cutter re- 



A GEAR-CUTTING ARRANGEMENT. 137 

vol ves toward the front of the lathe it will have no 
tendency to* pull off the blank, but have a contra- 
ry effect, which wtnild not be the case if the blank 
passed under the cutter. The cuttings and dust 
produced by the cutter will fall down out of the 
way, and will not obstruct or impede its progress. 
In setting this fixture to cut a gear, care must 
be taken to have the cutter-spindle stand in a line 
exactly at right angles to the axial line of the 
shaft which carries the blank, for if it be other- 
wise the groove cut will be wider than the cutter 
itself. 



138 mechanic's tool book, 



TO MAKE AN INDEX-PLATE. 

The mechanic often finds it necessary to lay out 
or make an index-plate, and excepting the method 
of spacing the blank or plate with a pair of divi- 
ders, he knows of no method of dividing it. If 
there be but a few spaces to be made, it may be 
done in this manner ; but if there beany consider- 
able number of spaces to make, let the plate be 
either large or small, much time and labor will be 
necessary to graduate the plate with a pair of di- 
viders, so that it will approach to any tolerable 
degree of accuracy. 

If the mechanic can have access to a correct in- 
dex-plate already made he can copy it, and that, 
too, with but little preparatory labor. If this in- 
dex-plate chance to be made upon the lathe pulley, • 
as we have sometimes seen on lathes used by ama- 
teurs, the blank plate, already prepared for mark- 
ing, may be put between the centers of this lathe, 
as is usual in ordinary turning, and then an iron 
block fitted into the tool-post of the lathe, so that 
it will stand parallel and near to the face of the 
blank plate to be marked. In the outer end of 
the block a hole must be drilled transversely, and 



TO MAKE AN INDEX-PLATE. 139 

in it a center-punch must be nicely fitted, so as to 
stand horizontally or at a right angle to the sur- 
face of the blank plate. The punch must be made 
capable of a longitudinal movement in the hole ot 
the block, so that it may mark indentations on 
the blank plate. Fasten the index-plate of the 
lathe by any hole of the series to be copied, then 
with a light hammer strike the center-punch a 
sufficient blow to make an indentation in the 
blank, then turn the plate in the l^the one divi- 
sion, and make another indent on the blank, and 
so proceed until as many are marked as are wished, 
or until one entire circle is complete. Then move 
the blank with the marking punch inward the dis- 
tance of another row of divisions, and mark 
another circle the same as the first. It is best to 
slightly mark, while it is in the turning-lathe, a 
series of concentric lines on the blank index, where 
the rows of divisions are to be made, and this will 
serve as guides enable the distance between the 
rows of holes to be made of equal distance from 
one row to another. 

When all the indentations are made upon the 
blank plate, remove it from the lathe, detach it 
from the arbor on which it was turned, and drill a 
hole at each indentation. A copy of a geared-cut- 
ter index-plate, or of the plate of the index mill- 
ing machine, may be copied or made much in the 
same manner. 

Where no index can be obtained, another method 
may be employed. After the blank index has been 



140 



MECHANIC S TOOL BOOK. 



turned up, and is ready for marking, a geared 
wheel, of the same number of teeth as the holes to 
be made in the plate, may be placed upon one end 
of the same mandrel that carries the blank plate, 
and if the teeth of this wheel be held like an in- 
dex-plate, the divisions may be transferred to the 
blank in the manner described. 

There is but one original method of graduation 
or spacing index-plates which the mechanic can 
employ with any profitable result when he has an 
index-plate to originate, and this method is simple, 
and can be employed by any one who feels so dis- 
posed. The first step is to bend a strip of steel 
into the form of a loop, and drill two holes 
through its ends, a little distance from each other, 
as shown in Fig. 31. When this is done harden 
and temper the ends where the holes are, so that 




Fig. 31. 



a drill will not wear them or increase their size. 
Then take a long strip of sheet-metal which may 
be of brass or iron as is most convenient, or even 
a piece of narrow loop iron will do, and scribe a 
straight line longitudinally and centrally upon it. 
Place the loop at a right angle to the length of 



TO MAKE AN INDEX-PLATE. 14] 

the strip, and drill one hole through it upon the 
scribed line, using the hole in the loop as a guide 
to drill through. Insert a steel pin in this hole 
and drill again through the other hole of the loop. 
Bemove the pin from the first hole, and move the 
loop so that the pin can be inserted in the last 
drilled hole, and the other hole of the loop denotes 
where the next hole is to be drilled, and when this 
hole is drilled, advance the loop and drill again, 
and so proceed until as many holes are drilled as 
you wish the greatest number to be in your index- 
plate. When that is done, fasten the two ends of 
the strip together like a looj), and place it upon 
the periphery of a wooden wheel of the same di- 
ameter, and fix this wheel centrally upon the same 
arbor or spindle upon which the index-plate is 
attached, and arrange some kind of catch to hold 
this wheel where it is inserted in the holes of the 
drilled hoop, and mark one indentation with the 
center-punch, as described in the other operations, 
and repeat until as many are marked as are re- 
quired. 

It is not necessary to drill another strip for the 
lesser divisions, as the hoop can be cut open and a 
proper ijortion cut out, so as to leave the number 
of holes required ; by turning down the wooden 
wheel to this size, it can be used as in the first in- 
stance. So proceed cutting the hoop and making 
it smaller, and turning down the wheel until the 
entire index-plate is marked with the number of 
spaces or divisions required. 



142 mechanic's tool book. 

Many of the divisions of an index plate can be 
subdivided so as to answer all purposes of a smaller 
number of spaces. For instance, a circle having 
240 spaces or holes may be made capable of the 
following divisions : ^-120, 80, 60, 48, 40, 30, 20, 15, 
12, and 6, or a wheel of any of those numbers of 
teeth can be divided and cut from it. A circle of 
144 divisions can be divided :— 144, 72, 48, 36, 24, 18, 
16, and 12. With 200 divisions, 100, 50, 40, 25, 20, 
10, and 5 may be made. With 72 divisions, we can 
make 36, 24, 18, 12, 9, 8, and 6 ; and with 132 di- 
visions, there may be made 66, 44, 33, 22, and .11. 
These five prime divisions : — 240, 200, 144, 132, 
and 72, will be found sufficient for the ordinary 
work of a shop. 



A MINIATURE PLANER. 143 



A MINIATURE PLANER. 

This miniature tool, which resembles and is 
used very much as a common planer, but only on 
small work, is designed to be affixed to a common 
bench vise, and may be held in place by means of 
bolts as shown in the cut, or it may be otherwise 
fastened, as some other convenient method may 
suggest itself to the inventive mechanic. The 
jaws of the vise hold the work to be planed, and 
the necessary reciprocating motion is given to the 
cutting tool by means of a lever which is pivoted 
to a sliding bed, and then connected by means of 
a joint and arm to an extension of the casting 
upon which the bed is made to slide. To this 
sliding bed there is attached a transverse arm 
upon which the head-plate carrying the tool-post 
and cutting tool is affixed. This head has a hori- 
zontal movement on the arm, and is moved by 
means of a screw arranged like that of a slide -rest, 
and is actuated by a hand or feed wheel at one 
end, and this is turned by the operator, who can 
employ one hand to give the stroke to the tool, 
and, as each stroke is to be repeated, can move 
the feed- wheel, and consequently give the tool a 



144 mechanic's tool book. 

side motion, sufficient to take a fresh cut upon the 
metal held in the vise jaws. The vertical move- 
ment given to the cutting tool is accomplished by 




Fig. 32. 

means of the handle seen at the top of the plate 
which carries the tool-post. The freedom given 
to the cutting tool in the back stroke to prevent 
its point being destroyed by abrasion is obtained 
by the plate which carries the tool-post oscillating 
on pivots at its upper end, the same as in the 



A MINIATURE PLANER. 145 

common iron- worker's planer, as used by the ma- 
chinist. 

Instead of the simple head, as shown in the en- 
graving, the same arrangement that is used in the 
power planer to enable the tool to be set at any 
angle and fed by the screw that raises and lowers 
the cutting tool, may be used, and this arrange- 
ment will render this miniature tool as complete 
in its arrangement as the power planer. 

The implement when placed upon the vise, as 
shown, is intended to supersede the use of the file, 
except for finishing, and at the same time accom- 
plish more and in a better manner than the file 
and filer are capable of doing. For model and 
mathematical instrument makers it is especially 
valuable, as work can be accomplished by it which 
would be attended with a great deal of risk if it 
were clamped in the power planer, and perhaps 
the proportions of the work are so delicate as not 
to admit of thus holding it. For cutting orna- 
mental rounds and hollows, grooves or corners, it 
can be employed where no other tool can be 
brought to bear on the work. It is in fact a 
miniature planer intended for delicate work, and 
accomplishes on a smaller scale the same kind of 
work and equally as perfect as its larger proto- 
type. 

A small size might be adapted for watchmakers 
and jewelers, while one of larger and stronger pro- 
portions can be adapted to the work of the model- 
maker and the small work of the machinist. At 
G 



146 mechanic's tool book. 

the present cost of files, not excepting its rapidity 
of reducing surfaces, this miniature machine would 
be an exceedingly profitable tool on ordinary vise- 
work. 



WIRE-STRAIGIITENING. 147 



WIBE-STBAIGHTENING. 

As the wire to be used for ordinary purposes is 
sold in coils, it often requires to be straightened 
for use. The softer wires — such as copper and 
annealed brass and soft iron wire of small diameter 
— may be straightened by fixing one end in the 
vise or a pair of pliers. If the pieces of wire to be 
used are short, they may be straightened by roll- 
ing them between two pieces of board. The soft 
steel wire used for making needles is straightened 
by rolling or rubbing. It is cut up in lengths of 
four or five inches and arranged in cylindrical 
bundles, and inclosed with iron hoops, of about 
four inches in diameter, a hoop being placed at 
each end of the bundle. A bar of iron two or 
three feet long, is placed transversely upon the 
bundle, between the hoops, and rolled back and 
forth, the operation being performed upon an iron 
table. After a little rolling, the hoops are taken 
off, and the wires are found to be nicely straight- 
ened. 

Hard-drawn and unannealed wires are too elastic 
to yield to these methods, and other modes must 
be resorted to in order to straighten them. We 



148 mechanic's tool book. 

have seen mechanics stretch wire, as unwound 
from the coil, between two vises, and then by 
holding two pieces of wood, one in the hands and 
the other resting on their wrists, pass the wire 
under the one and over the other, and thus pass 
along the length of wire ; but this is a very im- 
perfect and unsatisfactory way of straightening 
wire. A better way is to improvise a fixture for 
the purpose by first scribing a straight line upon 
a piece of plank or upon the end of a work-bench, 
and driving about five good-sized nails or iron pins 
alternately upon opposite sides of this line, but 
with the ends of the pins leaned a little away from 
the line, or sloping in opposite directions, in order 
to hold the wire down to the board as it is drawn 
between them. Insert the wire in a zigzag or ser- 
pentine manner, by passing it outside of each pin 
alternately. It is necessary to be very particular, 
in pulling the wire through, not to allow it to lean 
sensibly against either of the last two pins, or it 
will assume some of its original tendency to coil. 
The most convenient and effective wire-straight- 
ener is one made upon this principle, and so con- 



Ifig. 33. 

structed as to revolve by applied power. The fix- 
ture is simple and easily made, and is shown in 



WIRE-STRAIGHTENING. 1 49 

the annexed cut. It consists of a simple piece of 
cast-iron with four steel pins inserted. The en- 
tire length of the apparatus is about ten inches. 
A bearing is turned at each end, about an inch in 
diameter and two inches long. The pulley is a 
part of the casting, and is three inches in diameter 
and with a two-inch face. In the shell or open 
portion of the casting are inserted the four steel 
pins, which are placed a little to one side of a cen- 
tral longitudinal line, an inch apart, and are held 
by fitting tightly into the holes made to receive 
them. A hole, a little larger than the diameter of 
the wire required to be straightened, is drilled 
through the central axis of the bearings and pul- 
ley. The fixture may be mounted in an iron 
puppet-head or cheap wooden frame, as the taste 
or means of the mechanic may dictate. The belt 
used to revolve the apparatus ought to be about 
the same width as the breadth of the pulley, as in 
operation it requires a considerable amount of 
power to drive it. It is used by inserting a wire 
at the hole at one end of the bearing, and passing 
it under and over the steel pins and out through 
the end of the opposite bearing. Then set the 
machine running, and with a pair of pincers pull 
the wire through, and it will issue very straight 
and nice. While the wire is passing through it is 
necessary to lubricate it pretty well, in order to 
decrease friction and lessen the danger of cutting 
the different parts of the machine during its 
passage. 



150 mechanic's tool book. 



WIRE-CUTTING. 

The common cutting pliers are the most simple 
implements in use for cutting wires. The cutting 
edges of this tool are simply opposed wedges, the 
apex of each being presented to the work, and 
each cutter being capable of a movement in the 
arc of a circle by being pivoted together near the 
base of the cutting edges, the opposite ends ex- 
tending some distance from the pivot and serving 
as handles or levers to produce the motion. When 
these cutting edges are compressed upon a wire 
inserted between them, they first indent the oppo- 
site sides of the wire, and when, by the force 
applied, the penetration is sufficient, the surface 
of the wedge-like form exert a lateral pressure 
against the material, which yields and is forced 
asunder at the moment the pressure exerted by 
the cutting edges exceeds the cohesive strength 
of the material not severed. If we examine the 
end of the wire thus cut we find that it exhibits 
two beveled surfaces meeting at a ridge which 
is somewhat torn and ragged. The softer the 
material or the sharper the cutting edges of the 
implement, the less of this ridge will be exhibited. 



WIRE-CUTTING. 151 

As the cutting edges of these pliers require to 
be quite keen, the angle of cutting tools as usually 
formed does not apply to them, and about half of 
this angle, or an angle of thirty degrees, is em- 
ployed. As a consequence of this we often find 
tools of this character with their cutting edges 
notched and ragged from cutting hard wires, or by 
being used by unskillful or careless persons, who 
force the tempered edges of the cutters laterally 
against the wire, in which they are partially 
buried. When the edges of a pair of cutting pli- 
ers are destroyed they seldom admit of being 
reground or repaired, and the tool is thrown aside 
as useless. Attempts have been made to super- 
sede this form of cutting pliers by instruments 
made with detachable blades, but have not been 
successful, as we still find the old cutting pliers 
holding a place in the market and a position on 
the bench of the mechanic. As an instrument for 
instantaneous use and in varied circumstances 
they are, perhaps, unequaled, and some of their 
advantages are that wire can be cut so that no 
burr is left to be taken off by filing or otherwise, 
and a cut can also be taken close to a shoulder or 
other object. Where wire-cutters are made with 
two edges passing each other like a pair of shears 
this cannot be done, yet such pliers have their 
appropriate place and use in the workshop 
economy. 

When wire requires to be so cut that a square 
face is left, or, in other words, cut at a right angle 



152 mechanic's tool book. 

to its length, other means must be applied than 
the cutting pliers. There are tools made especially 
for such operations, and in some shops we find 
they are often in use ; but in places where such a 
tool is seldom wanted the hand pliers are resorted 
to, though their use is attended with some disad- 
vantage, as they do not work so expeditiously, 
and do not leave the severed wire with a square- 
cut end. If there chance to be a pair of shears, 
such as are used in cutting sheet-metal, they can 
readily be adapted to cut wire by drilling several 
holes of different sizes near the pivot on which 
the blades are hung, but above the lower edge 
of the upper blade when it is closed upon the lower 
one. When this upper blade is raised and wire is 
inserted in one of these holes it is severed by the 
blade as it descends past the hole in which the 
wire is held. By making the several holes of dif- 
ferent sizes as many sizes of wire can be inserted, 
and if the larger holes be made near the shear-joint 
less force will be required to sever the wire than if 
it were placed more distant.' The use of the shear 
blades are in no way impaired by this arrange- 
ment for cutting sheet-metal. 

We have seen an arrangement for wire-cutting 
attached to a lathe, and it consisted of a narrow 
blade of steel, made with appropriate cutting 
edges and bolted transversely across the face- 
plate of the lathe, and this blade revolved against 
a plate placed in front of it, and through this plate 
the wires to be cut were inserted. The distance 



WIRE-CUTTING. 



153 



of the cutting-blade from the face-plate to which 
it was attached determined the length of the piece 
of wire which was to be cut off. 

A cheap and efficient wire-cutter may be made 
as shown in the cut, which consists of a steel forg- 
ing fastened perpendicularly to the bench by an 




Fig. 34. 

extension of the lower part of the plate, a nut 
holding it firmly in place. The upper part of the 
bar has a number of holes drilled to receive the 
wire to be cut, and at the extreme upper portion 
there is a hole to receive the bolt that forms the 
pivot upon which the cutting-blade is hung. It 
is almost needless to add that the part where the 
holes are made must be nicely tempered. It will 
be observed that the cutting-blade is made of a T 
shape, and hung upon the pivot bolt in such a 
manner that when the handle is lowered the cut- 
ting edge of the pivoted end severs the wire, which 



154 mechanic's tool book. 

is thrust through any one of the holes in the plate. 
A gauge to determine the length of the wire can 
be fixed by means of a screw in the lower portion 
of the plate. 

By making the cutter-blades of a T-form, if one 
blade should become broken or injured the oppo- 
site blade can be used, and no time will be lost at 
that particular moment in stopping to repair the 
injured blade. 



COILING WIRE. 155 



COILING WIRE FOE RINGS, SPRINGS, ETC. 

It often happens that the mechanic wishes to 
form rings of different sizes, made from wire or 
coiled springs which are to act by compression or 
extension. One method of doing this is to rotate 
an iron spindle in the lathe, and, fastening the 
wire at one end of this spindle and allow it to 
wind up upon it, and when the necessary length is 
thus wound it is cut into the number of coils with 
a chisel or by means of cutting blades placed in a 
foot or hand press. 

The objections to this method of coiling wire 
are that short lengths or lengths equal to that of 
the spindle can only be thus wound, and, unless 
the coil be wound close, the spaces, as the wire is 
guided by the hands, will vary in distance. If two 
or even a greater number of wires be fastened at 
one end of the mandrel and wound together as a 
double or a many-threaded screw, and when thus, 
wound and removed from contact with each other, 
coils of an even space between each turn cap be 
readily produced. Another remedy foy this varia- 
tion is to hold an iron rod or a piece of stout wire 
between the coil and the wire as it is being wound, 



156 mechanic's tool book. 

and this rod will, if the wire be wound close to it 
and it be held close to the previous coil, graduate 
the distance between them pretty accurately. An 
improvement upon the rod is to fasten it into a 
hook or loop so as to clasp the spindle, and the 
end or ends can be held by the operator with one 
hand while he guides the wire with the other. A 
tool similar in principle can be made of a bar of 
iron with a hole at one end in which the spindle 
loosely fits, the opposite end of the bar being 
fashioned into a handle. A hole of a size a little 
larger than the diameter of the wire is made at a 
point above the center, but at the rear of the 
spindle as the tool is placed upon it and held in 
the hand. The thickness of this tool determines 
the space between the coils, as, in being wound, 
the wire passes through the smaller hole, being 
fed on one side of the bar and winding or coiling 
upon the spindle at the opposite side of it. To 
use the tool in practice, place it upon the spindle, 
pass the wire through the small hole and fasten it 
to the spindle, which rotates and forms the coil. 

An even coil can be made upon a lathe which is 
adapted for screw-cutting by setting it so that it 
would cut a screw of the same pitch as the coil is 
wanted. Place in the tool-post of the lathe, 
parallel with the axial. line of the spindle, a piece, 
of iron with a hole in one end large enough to ad- 
mit the wire. Pass the wire through this hole 
and attach it to the spindle : set the lathe running, 
and the coil will be nicely formed, the feed regu- 



COILING WIRE. 157 

lating the distance or j)itch. Wire from No. 1 to 
No. 15 can be coiled in this manner to good ad- 
vantage. Wire larger than the size of No. 1 of the 
wire gauge can be coiled by means of two rolls 
which are geared together so as to revolve in op- 
posite directions, the wire being wound upon one 
of the rolls, which has a spiral cut in its periphery 
of a depth equal to about one-third of the diameter 
of the wire. The groove, being of the same pitch 
as the coil is to be, serves as a guide to form the 
coil ; and the opposite roll, which has a smooth 
face, serves to hold the wire in contact with, and 
confine it to, the spiral groove in the other roll in 
which it must wind or coil. 

In these methods which have been mentioned 
the coils must of necessity be of the same length, 
or less, than the spindle upon which they are 
wound ; but if it be desired to form coils of an in- 
definite length, other means and appliances must 
be employed. It has probably been observed with 
what facility sheets of iron, as used by the tin- 
smith and boiler-maker, are brought to the re- 
quired curvature, and the apparatus employed 
consists of two cylindrical rolls which are con- 
nected by geared wheels so as to revolve in oppo- 
site directions. A third roller is placed opposite 
the two, and is free to be moved upon its axis by 
any body moving in contact with it, and this roll 
is made capable of adjustment. When used, the 
sheet of metal passes between the two geared rolls 
and strikes the edge of the third roll and is curled 



158 mechanic's tool book. 

up, to enable it to pass over the same ; and as 
this bending occurs in an equal degree at every 
point of the sheet of metal, it assumes a circular 
form, the diameter of which is dependent upon the 
position of the free roll. The principle employed 
is the application of three forces, as in a lever of 
the iirst order, or as in bending a rod across a fixed 
point. In coiling wire a machine can be con- 
structed upon this same principle, and instead of 
rolls, as employed for plates, narrow wheels may 
be used, geared together so as to run in opposite 
directions, and grooves are made upon their peri- 
phery which guide the wire, and the third or loose 
wheel, made capable of adjustment, is placed in 
the rear of the fixed ones, its adjustment deter- 
mining the diameter of the coil, and a flange at 




one side of this wheel pressing the wire in a lateral 
direction determines the pitch of the coil. In the 
sketch, a and b represent the two wheels geared 



COILING WIRE. 159 

together, and c the loose wheel ; d is the wire as 
it is received in the direction of the arrow and is- 
sues in the curved form as shown. The principle 
has been explained sufficiently to enable the me- 
chanic to comprehend it and construct a machine, 
for coiling wire if he should be called upon to do 
so. 



160 mechanic's tool book. 



ETTLE AND HINGE JOINTS. 

Oftentimes the mechanic is called upon to make 
joints similar to those seen upon folding rules, and 
having little or no practical knowledge of the 
method of making this joint finds himself at fault, 
and a poor and ill-made piece of work is the result 
Examples *of joints often required are seen upon 
pocket-rules, the drawing compass, bullet molds, 
and many other articles. The joint of the latter 
is perhaps the most simple one, as both portions 
are fac-similes of each other. The first step is to 
drill the hole for the rivet ; this is done to both 
portions of the joint. Then make a " rose-head," 
or (as it is called in some shops) a " mill," the cut- 
ting-face of which is a very trifle convex and is 
made with the requisite cutting-teeth. The slight 
convex form of the tool produces a corresponding 
slight concave surface of work, and two such sur- 
faces will, when riveted together, make a tight, 
close, and even working joint. If too much con- 
cavity be made, the outer edges may wear away 
and a looseness will be soon apparent. 

The mill or tool which produces this cut must 
be centrally drilled at the cutting end for the re- 



RULE AND HINGE JOINTS. 



161 



ception of a guide-pin which is to be inserted in 
the hole, a, previously drilled (see Fig. 36), and 
ought to nicely fill it, and it must be long enough 
so that it can be inserted before the mill begins 
to cut ; it will then form a steady guide while the 
corners of the teeth are removing the upper edge 
of the surface, b, preparatory to the reception of 
the round, e, of the other portion to be there in- 
serted. 




Fig. 36. 



The forming of the round, c, is the most difficult 
part of the operation, and in large establishments 
where many of these joints are made, as in bullet- 
molds in the gun-factories, it is usually done at 
two cuts, each cut embracing one-half of the circle, 
and these cuts are made by means of the milling 
machine. But where a few such joints are re- 
quired, or where the milling machine is not avail- 
able, other means must be employed. One method 
is by filing. Turn a piece of steel of the exact 
size of the mil], which produces the cut at J, with 
a stem to fit the hole, a, then temper it so that it 



162 mechanic's tool book. 

will not be reduced by the action of the file, and 
insert the stem in the hole and file the round, <?, 
to the form of this guide, taking care to carry the 
file upon a line parallel with the body of the guide 
until the file just touches it for the necessary dis- 
tance of the circle. When this is done remove 
the guide and rivet the two pieces together, thus 
forming the joint, the perfectness of which can be 
ascertained by opening and closing it a few times, 
and with a smooth file remove the portions which 
show where the surfaces come in too close con- 
tact. 

There is a method of forming such joints by cut- 
ting the round upon the lathe by means of a small 
mill or cutter which has teeth upon the side as 
well as upon the circumference and made to re- 
volve upon a spindle in the lathe as is shown in 
Fig. 37. After drilling the joint, place it upon a 




suitable pin attached in a rest, as shown in the 
engraving, and upon feeding it up, the abutting 
surface is cut where the two portions of the joint 
come in contact when opened to their greatest ex- 



RULE AND HINGE JOINTS. 



163 



tent, and then, by turning the work slowly around 
toward the spindle on which the cutter revolves, 
a portion of the circle of the round, c, as shown in 
Fig. 36, is made ; but as only about one-half of 
this circle can be thus made the work must be re- 
moved from the pin and inverted, when the 
remaining portion of the circle is completed, the 
whole round and the abutting surfaces being pro- 
duced at the two cuts. A little smoothing with 
a file will complete the operation. 



a 



Jill 




III 


III 111 


1 [in ; 


irii 




III 


III 


(H 


iiiiip^ 

b 











Fig. 38. 

In laying out a joint a few instructions may be 
necessary, and these are given in Fig. 38. Make a 
circle of the exact size of the proposed joint, then 
through the center of this circle draw the line 5, 
and at right angles to it, meeting the center of 
the circle, draw the line, c ; the angle, which is an 
an angle of 90°, forms the two abutting surfaces 
against which the two portions of the joint must 
open and close. The same rule of instructions 
may be applied to joints of almost any kind, and 
are adapted to those joints which are designed to 
open in an arc of one half of a circle, and there 



164 mechanic's tool book. 

remain firm abutted against each other, which 
distance is sufficient for nearly all practical pur- 
poses. 

With a little different manipulation a double 
joint is made, but it embraces the same princi- 
ples as employed in a single joint. The hinges 
and butts used • for doors and chest-covers are 
made after the principle mentioned, but instead 
of a single joint, are formed with two, three, or 
more joints upon the same piece of metal, and 
when connected together as we see them in use 
they form a much stronger connection than if they 
were made singly. 



TO MAKE A "KNURL." 165 



TO MAKE A "KNUBL." 

The " knurl," beading, or milling tool, as it is 
variously named, is often called into requisition 
by the mechanic for the purpose of ornamenting 
the beads or swells of the work he is engaged 
upon. These knurls are generally purchased at 
some of the hardware stores, and are used by in- 
serting them in the end of an iron shank, where 
they are free to be rotated by any moving body 
being held in contact with them, and if they be 
held rigidly enough they will make upon it a fig- 
ure the reverse form of that upon their periphery. 
Knurls are generally made with about three forms 
of face — straight, hollow, and rounding — and these 
forms are cut with straight or beveled teeth, or 
designs of different degrees of coarseness. 

If at any time the mechanic has one of these 
forms, a hollow for instance, which is suitable for 
beading a swell, and he wishes to produce the op- 
posite of this, or a round-faced knurl, he can turn 
up a steel blank of the required form and hold the 
hollow knurl against it until the fosm of its teeth 
is fully impressed in the surface of the blank. 
This then can be hardened and tempered ready to 



166 mechanic's tool book. 

be used for the production of its reverse. Iu this 
way a sharp knurl may be used to produce a great 
number of others, or when they become dull by 
usage they can be restored by it to their original 
excellence. 

But as it is often desired by the mechanic to 
make a knurl the teeth of which are required to be 
coarser or finer than any he possesses or can pur- 
chase, he can readily do it by first turning a blank 
to the form required, and then cutting a small 
screw with the same pitch of thread that the knurl 
is wanted to be, then cut grooves across it the same 
as a hob is made for cutting screw-chasers. Tem- 
per this screw and fit it to revolve in the lathe. 
Attach the blank knurl to a shank, the same as it 
is used in actual work, and hold it in a vertical 
position so that it will revolve by the action of 
the screw as it is held against it. The rotation of 
the screw will cause the blank to revolve, and a 
serrated surface will be formed upon it at the 
same time. While doing this it will be necessary 
to support the shank that carries the blank upon 
a T-rest. 

If the blank knurl be made with a hollow face, 
the screw to cut it must of a necessity be of a size 
proportionate to the hollow ; but if the blank be 
made with a flat or rounding form then it must be 
moved in such a manner that the screw will cut 
every portion of the face evenly and alike, and this 
can be done by moving the handle that carries the 
shank, as it lays upon the rest up and down, and 



TO MAKE A "KNURL." 167 

by so doing presenting the blank correspondingly 
to the cutting surface of the screw. 

If ornamental knurls are wanted, the services of 
the die-sinker must be brought into requisition, 
who will produce a reverse of the ornament needed, 
and then reverses of this can be made in the man- 
ner mentioned, or they may be so made that they 
can be used upon the work without the necessity 
of using them as patterns to form working tools. 



168 mechanic's tool book. 



HOW TO MAKE METAL TUBES. 

Tubes of metal are used for a variety of pur- 
poses, and in all large cities and towns are easily 
obtained of almost any size ; but there are times 
when the mechanic finds it an impossibility to ob- 
tain what he wants of this kind of material, and 
he must manufacture a tube for himself. If the 
tube is required to be of two inches diameter in- 
side, a narrow slip of metal is cut off and bent 
close about a mandrel or spindle of that size, until 
the ends just meet ; this slip when straightened 
out gives the breadth of the piece which is to form 
the tube. Out a piece of this breadth from the 
metal, taking care that the edges are exactly 
straight and the breadth uniform ; brighten the 
surface for about a quarter of an inch by filing it 
at the opposite edges on the same side. Then 
place the piece of metal upon a spindle and with 
a mallet bend it round it until the edges come in 
contact and lie very close and even together, the 
brightened parts coming together on the inside 
and presenting a clean surface for the reception 
of the solder. 

If the tube be exposed to the fire for soldering 



TO MAKE METAL TUBES. 169 

in this state, especially if the metal be thin, the 
heat would cause the, suture to open, and it would 
be imposible to solder it ; to prevent this, place 
loops of small wire, at an interval of about an 
inch or so apart, around the entire length of the 
tube, and twist them so as to bring the edge of 
the metal in close contact. 

The tube so prepared is ready for soldering, and 
borax and spelter must be used for that purpose. 
The borax being previously burned or made to 




Fig. 39. 

swell into a friable mass by exposure to heat upon 
an iron plate, is triturated with water to the con- 
sistency of cream, in which state it is rubbed along 
the inside of the tube upon the seam ; upon the 
borax a portion of spelter solder must be laid. 
Place the tube over a good charcoal fire with the 
suture downward, until it becomes slightly red- 
hot ; at a cherry-red heat the borax will melt, and 
presently the solder will fuse, and as this fusion 
proceeds draw the tube along so as to expose 
every part of the line or joint to the action of the 
heat. 

When finished remove the wires, and put it in a 
pickle of sulphuric acid diluted with water ; after 
half an hour remove it, wash and scour it clean, 
and it is ready to be wrought as may be desired. 
H 



170 mechanic's tool book. 



PRODUCTION OF IEEEGULAE FOEMS. 

Many . kinds of irregular forms are produced in 
the machinist's lathe by means of peculiar-shaped 
turning tools, as, for instance, the swells, beads, 
and bosses upon the ornamental portions of ma- 
chinery. These simple ornamental profiles con- 
sist of what is technically known as rounds and 
hollows, sometimes placed separately and at other 
times in juxtaposition or separated by a slight 
indentation. The manner of making these forms 
is to form the cutting face of the turning tool with 
a shape the reverse of that intended to be made, 
and this shape is generally produced by means of 
the file ; but the process is slow and tedious, es- 
pecially where a complexity of form is wanted ; 
and where a duplicate is wished it is a somewhat 
difficult operation to thus produce it. If the me- 
chanic was conversant with some easy and simple 
means of x^roducing these peculiar-shaped tools, 
they would, no doubt, be oftener used, and add 
much to the beauty of tools and machinery. It 
may be supposed that every machinist has among 
his tools a spindle for carrying the saws used for 
slotting screw-heads and for other similar pur- 



PRODUCTION OF IRREGULAR FORMS. 171 

poses. If the workman make two or three differ- 
ent-shaped cutters similar to these saws, and of 
the precise shape he wishes to produce upon the 
work, and then place them upon the spindle and 
then place them upon the spindle and rotate it 
between the lathe-centers, and if the end of a 
blank tool be fed up to the cutters, they will cut 
a reverse of its form in the blank, and this can be 
properly finished by hand to constitute a turning 
tool and tempered for use. As many tools as may 
be desired can be thus produced, and when they 
are worn out, the spindle and circular cutters can 
be again brought into requisition, and duplicates 
of the tool are cheaply and readily produced. 

One example of this reproduction of given forms 
is seen in that kind of adjustable or monkey 
wrench in which the jaw is moved back and forth 
upon the bar by means of a nut which incloses the 
bar, a thread being cut upon the interior of the 
nut and upon the corners of the bar. It is neces- 
sary that these nuts where they are attached to 
the jaw should be of one size and form, and they 
are produced in the lathe by a single tool as 
stated. 

In this method of forming these tools the end 
lines of the cutting surface are of concave form, 
corresponding to the diameter of the cutter which 
formed them. If a plane instead of concave sur- 
face of tool is wanted, a different method must be 
employed in its production, and although it may 
seem somewhat difficult to do in the lathe it is. 



172 mechanic's tool book. 

nevertheless, quite easy. Attach by means of 
bolts or screws to one side of the lathe carriage, 
and midway between its front and rear ends, a 
piece of iron which has a recess made transversely 
to the length of the carriage, and of the size of the 
body of the tool, and this recessed side must be 
placed next to the side of the carriage ; it will 
then form a mortise in which the tool will fit, and 
a screw upon its outer side may be made to con- 
fine it in place. The necessary angle of inclina- 
tion to the rear at which the tool must be placed, 
or at which this mortise must be made, is about 
60°. Confine the blank tool thus, place the spin- 
dle and cutters in place, then run the blank under 
the cutters from the rear, using the necessary 
precaution of careful cutting and slow feed, and 
a nice straight-faced tool shaped the reverse of 
the cutter will be the result. The reason why the 
tool to be cut must be inclined to the rear and 
the cut taken from the rear side is obvious, for if 
it were inclined to the front the action of the cut- 
ters would drag the blank toward them, and the 
result would be, perhaps, a breakage of the cut- 
ter-teeth and an unsatisfactory cut ; but when the 
blank is inclined toward the rear, the action is to 
force it back as well as cut it, and no danger of 
breakage need be apprehended, and a smooth cut, 
which will scarcely need touching in order to fin- 
ish it, will be the result. This can then be 
smoothed with files of fine cut teeth, and polished 
if necessary, tempered and used as a common end- 
cut tool. 



CLAMPED DIES. 173 



CLAMPED DIES. 

Another means, and a very cheap and expedi- 
tious one, of producing irregular forms is by means 
of clamped dies, which operate the same in princi- 
ple as the lathe tool ; but instead of the one cut- 
ting point, as in the example of the lathe tool, it 
has two cutting edges — a front and a rear one — 
as the dies close together. Another additional 
advantage over the lathe tool is that the irregular 
surface of the work produced has a bearing upon 
nearly its entire circumference while it is being 
produced. 

This principle of clamped dies may be applied 
in cases where the turning tool could not be well 
brought to bear. The turning of the wrists of 
small cranks is an example, as in the cranks of 
sewing machines, where the pitman is attached. 
To produce or turn a smooth surface upon that spot 
by means of the turning tool would involve the 
necessity of either bending the ends of the shaft 
so that this part would be exactly in the line of 
rotation, and when finished the ends thus bent 
must be straightened out, or at each end of the 
shaft, arms must be attached, involving the same 



174 MECHANIC'S TOOL BOOK. 

principle as in the previous plan, but by means of 
clamped dies the wrist for the pitman may be 
turned very expeditiously, and upon the same 
centers as those on which the shaft was turned. 
Let the mechanic take a common die-stock, in 
which the dies are forced together by means of a 
set screw at one side of the stock, or one in which 
the handle answers the same purpose. Let him 
fit to this stock two dies in the same manner as 
the dies for cutting screws are fitted, and let them 
be of the shape of the screw die, supposing the 
threads were filled up or the die was made with 
no thread. It will be obvious that by clamping 
these dies together a shaving of the rod or metal 
upon which they are clamped, will be removed, 
and they will so continue to act as long as the 
forcing together of the dies is continued or until 
the diameter of the work is reduced to the same 
size as the circle of the die which clasps it. We 
may regard the die-stock and the screw-dies as 
examples of clamped dies, in which the metal is 
removed in precisely the same manner ; but by 
peculiar formation of the thread the die is ad- 
vanced in a longitudinal direction in a proportion 
to the pitch of the thread. 

It is evident that irregular forms may be pro- 
duced by this means as readily as plane ones, by 
means of irregular-shaped dies, and these dies are 
cut or formed by means of tools which cut in the 
same manner as reamers, but of the same form to 
be produced. These tools are turned or produced 



CLAMPED DIES. 175 

by tools in the lathe as may be most convenient, 
and when thus formed ought to be nicely polished ; 
then by means of the file, or the better process of 
cutting by the milling machine or planer, cut Ion- 
gitudinal grooves in such a way that they will be 
formed like the teeth of a reamer and act in like 
manner. When these teeth are thus nicely made 
the tool must be tempered. If the blank-dies are 
now made to inclose this tool and tightened upon 
it, oil being supplied in the meantime, it will as it 
revolves form its counterpart in the blanks. When 
it has cut of a sufficient depth the dies are removed, 
the edges or sides formed at an angle to produce 
cutting edges, and tempered for use. When these 
edges are dulled they are restored by grinding the 
angle which constitutes the cutting edge. 

Examples of the use of these tools are seen in 
trunk, cabinet, and door keys, at that irregular- 
formed portion between the bit and the bow. In 
the process the key is held by the bit by slipping 
it into a recess made to receive it, so that it will 
properly revolve, and the dies applied. If these 
dies were placed in the die-stock, as in the illus- 
tration we first gave, it would require some expen- 
diture of time to insert and move them ; but if 
these dies be placed in a pair of clamps or tongs, 
as they might be called, they can then quickly and 
readily be applied. 

This process has been used in the production of 
screws, of swells, or ornamental beads upon rods, 
the work being held in a pair of revolving clamps 



176 mechanic's tool book. 

which rotated in the lathe. To enable the work to 
conform to the dies the clamps must be suscepti- 
ble of some lateral play or vibration, and this is 
generally done by making them of some length, 
perhaps a foot or two. In the making of screws 
the clamps are to be attached to the end on which 
the screw is cut, and the body of the screw and 
head are formed at one and the same time. This 
end by which they are held may be quite short, 
and can be cut oif when the finishing of the screw 
is to be done. 

To what extent this principle is capable of being 
extended we do not know, as we have no recollec- 
tion of seeing it applied to articles above an inch in 
diameter ; but as movable dies are successfully 
used in cutting very large screws, we presume no 
difficulty would be found in extending these same 
clamped dies. The smallest articles so produced 
of which we have cognizance were a lot of bear- 
ings for sewing machine shuttles, the one in which 
the end of the thread-bobbin revolves. 



DUPLICATING IRREGULAR FORMS. 177 



DUPLICATING IEEEGULAE POEMS. 

With the exception of the taper, no means are 
provided upon the engine lathe to turn automati- 
cally any other form than that of a cylinder ; yet 
irregular forms are often needed to be produced, 
and with facsimile lines. The usual method of 
doing this is to "rough out" the form by means 
of the diamond-point tool, following the required 
shape by moving the tool "in or out " by means 
of the handle attached to the screw, which serves 
to move the handle to or from the work, then go 
over it in the same manner with a round-nosed 
tool, and finally finish up with hand tools, or use 
a file upon it as it revolves, and then, if so de- 
sired, obliterate the file marks by means of grind- 
ing with emery. 

We see in machine-work that the handles in- 
serted in wheels and in cranks for the purpose of 
rotating them, and often other parts or portions 
of mechanical appliances, are formed with easy 
curves ; yet with tools which move only in 
straight lines, or transversely with these lines, as 
in the lathe-feed, with no other guide but that of 
the human hand, the production or reproduction 



178 mechanic's tool book. 

of these curves is not so easy a matter. But any 
engine lathe, or lathe which has an automatic 
feed, can be easily arranged so as to produce a 
curve and its duplicate almost ad infinitum. It 
is done in this way : — Eemove the screw by means 
of which the cross or transverse feed is accom- 
plished, and as the tool-block or tool-post is 
carried or held up to the work by this screw, it is 
evident that the point of the tool will then recede 
by the force of the work as it rotates ; but to 
remedy this we will attach an arm to the rear end 
of the saddle, as that part of the rest is called 
which rides upon the way of the lathe-shear and 
attach to this arm a small pulley grooved so that 
a cord will run over it, fasten the cord to the up- 
per portion of the tool carriage which moves 
transversely upon this saddle, and when the cord 
is passed over the arm and a weight attached it 
will hold the tool up to the work so that the re- 
sistance will not cause a backward motion. If 
we attach a plate of iron or steel of the same 
shape we wish to turn to the lathe-shear opposite 
to the work to be turned, so that it will rfemain 
quite firm, and fix a small .piece of steel placed 
vertically to the carriage, so that the edge of this 
vertical piece will travel against the pattern as 
the carriage is fed along, it is obvious that, 
under the action of the weight applied at the rear, 
the motion of the tool "in and out" will corres- 
pond exactly to the form of the pattern attached 
to the shear, and when the tool is set at a certain 



DUPLICATING IRREGULAR FORMS. 179 

distance from the axial line of the work, the exact 
reproduction of that form will be the result as 
often as it is permitted to traverse the different 
pieces upon which it is brought to act. By set- 
ting the tool nearer the work a smaller form, or 
by removing it a little, a larger one, but of the same 
length and profile, will be the result. Besides the ad- 
vantage of exact reproduction, the operation is done 
automatically, and requires no other care from the 
workman than that required in turning a cylin- 
der ; and if a finishing tool be applied, a finished 
surface can be produced on the curve as well as 
upon the cylinder. The taper can be produced in 
this way, or a cylinder, formed with tapers, cones, 
or swells upon its surface at intervals, can be 
turned as easily and as readily as the cylinder. 



180 mechanic's tool book. 



TO TUEN A TAPEE. 

Engine lathes of the present day are made with 
the tail-stock in two parts — a base or bottom por- 
tion which is fitted to the ways of the lathe-shear, 
and an ripper part attached to this base and car- 
rying the spindle. This upper portion is capable 
of a transverse motion upon the lower one by 
means of screws, and it may be retained at any 
point, either in an axial line with the spindle or a 
few degrees removed from this line. 

If the mechanic wishes to turn a taper he moves 
the top portion of the tail-stock to the front or 
rear, as may be desired, and as the cutting tool 
always moves in a line parallel with the axial line 
of the "live" spindle which carries one end of the 
work to be turned, and the "dead" spindle sup- 
porting the other end, being thus moved away 
from this axial line, it will be evident that the 
shaft or rod to be turned will be reduced to the 
form of a taper in the same proportion that the 
dead spindle is moved away from this axial line. 
This is the means as generally employed by me- 
chanics to produce taper forms. 

Iron turning lathes have been made which indi- 



TO TURN A TAPER. 181 

cate the amount of this taper, but the lathe so 
commonly met with does not do this, and some 
means must be resorted to to ascertain if the lathe 
be "set," as it is called, so as to produce the re- 
quired form of taper. We have seen mechanics 
guess at it, setting the tail-stock spindle a little 
distance from the line to turn a cylinder and tak- 
ing a light cutting off the work, and then moving 
it again until it is at the required place. A very 
correct method of setting a lathe very near the 
exact point at the first trial is to insert the work 
— a shaft, for instance— and turn a small portion 
of the small end or tip of the taper of the required 
size, or leave it a little larger, to allow of a finish 
cut being taken. Then reverse it and turn the 
large or base end for a little distance the size or a 
little larger than it is to be ; then reversing the 
shaft, leaving the tool in its place, the small end 
being opposite the tool, loosen the screws that 
confine the tail-stock to the shear, and this will 
free the part that carries the spindle ; then, by 
means of the screws at the side, move the dead 
spindle until the turned portion on the small end 
touches the tool, and then confine the spindle and 
tail -stock in place. It will be obvious that the 
cutting tool must follow in a direct line from the 
small portion of the shaft to the larger or base 
end. If it be not exactly the taper required and 
is left a little large, the tail-stock can be moved 
a little to meet the required form and a finish cut 



182 mechanic's tool book. 

can be taken which will in all probability be the 
required form. 

If it should so happen that the lathe in use is 
not made with the spindle to be "set over," bul 
if it has the usual rest and feed-carriage it can be 
arranged to turn a taper by inserting an iron- 
wedge under either front or rear end of this car- 
riage, according as the taper is to be produced or 
as convenience will admit. If the base of the 
wedge be placed toward the head-stock and so 
that the front end of the carriage will travel upon 
it, it will raise the point of the turning-tool as it 
feeds along and a decreasing size will be made 
upon the shaft; but if the wedge be similarly 
placed, but made to engage the carriage at the 
rear end, the opposite effect will take place. This 
same arrangement can be used upon the lathe 
with the movable tail-stock, if it be desired not to 
move it, to produce this effect. If it be desired 
to turn a cylinder a certain distance and then pro- 
duce a taper, the lathe may remain so as to turn 
the cylinder, and at the proper point the wedge 
may be inserted and the taper produced without 
change of lathe or change of turning-tool. 

In what is known as the gibbbed lathe this can- 
not be well done, and is best accomplished in the 
lathe in which the tool carriage is held in place to 
the shear by means of a weight. 

By an application of wedges of irregular form 
the same or contrary forms can be given to the 
work in the lathe, according as these wedges are 



TO TURN A TAPER. 183 

inserted under the front or rear end of the car- 
riage. The form of the wedge must be made to 
assume these irregular forms gradually, as abrupt 
forms or curves cannot be very well executed by 
the turning-tool. 



184 mechanic's tool book. 



PKODUCTION OP OYLINDEIOAL SUE- 
FACES. 

The machinist's lathe, with its automatic feed, 
is the means generally employed for the produc- 
tion of cylindrical surfaces ; but although this 
may seem a very easy means of producing cylin- 
ders of exactly the same diameter or of unvarying 
diameters, it is nevertheless quite difficult to pro- 
duce two cylinders of any great length, of exactly 
the same diameter or of equal diameter through- 
out their entire length. The reason of this is ob- 
vious ; upon the commencement of the work the 
cutting point of the turning tool is quite acute, 
but soon becomes somewhat obtuse after cutting 
a little distance, and of course the work is left of 
a greater diameter as it progresses ; then again 
the ways of the lathe in lapse of time become worn 
or reduced in the places where the carriage travels 
most frequently, as dust and debris will get be- 
tween the bearing surfaces of the lathe and car- 
riage, and a reduction of these surfaces will result. 
The means usually employed for the production 
of cylinders of equal and like diameter, is first to 
turn it with the point tool as near as possible and 



PRODUCTION OF CYLINDRICAL SURFACES. 185 

then to finish it to the size with a fine cnt file, 
applying the file as the work rotates in the lathe, 
and ascertaining the diameter by repeated trials 
with the callipers. If this cylinder is to fit into a 
corresponding aperture, it is sometimes filed until 
it nearly enters, and is then ground to fit by means 
of oil and emery or some abrasive substance. 

It has often been a desideratum with mechanics 
to have some adjustable tool that might be applied 
to a cylindrical surface, and it would produce 
other cylindrical surfaces of an unvarying dia- 
meter, but as yet no such tool has found its way 
into the economy of the workshops. The tool 
usually employed to obtain cylinders of like dia- 
meters is shown in Fig. 40. It consists of a short 
cylinder of steel, through which is drilled a hole 
of exactly the same diameter as that to be pro- 
duced. Upon the end to be presented to the 
work are radical teeth which, when presented for 
operation, act as so many cutting points to re- 
move the superfluous material. This tool can be 
rotated in the lathe by being held in a chuck, or 
the work can be rotated and the tool held in a 
clamp and the work given to its action ; it is passed 
longitudinally over it. If this tool be of any con- 
siderable length the work may bind at its rear por- 
tion, and where such is the case or if it be appre- 
hended, that portion of the tool may be bored out 
a trifle larger than the front portion. 

In a shop where twist drills are used and fixed 
measurements are a standard guide to the work- 



186 mechanic's tool book. 

men, these tools may be used and the twist-drills 
are a ready means for their production, but as 
their cost is quite considerable their use will be 
limited. They have been profitably employed in 
the manufacture of short bolts and screws, and 
many kinds of work of which short cylinders are 
a component part. If two cylinders be desired of 
different diameters, but attached to each other and 
concentric with their centres, two of these tools, 
similar to the one in the cut, may be used at the 
same time, the aperture of each corresponding to 
the diameter desired. In use the larger tool must 
be placed over the smaller one and confined to it 
by means of a set screw. Or if three sizes of cy- 
linder be wished, three of these tools can be sim- 
ultaneously employed. The length of each portion 
of cylinder can be obtained by regulating the dis- 
tance between the ends of the tools before they 
are brought to act upon the work. 

Some attempts have been made to adopt an ad- 
justable tool with detachable cutters to produce 
cylinders, but such a tool has not been very satis- 




Fig. 40. 

factory in its performance. The tool represented 
in the cut has sometimes been made with a num- 



PRODUCTION OF CYLINDRICAL SURFACES. 187 

ber of longitudinal cuts made with a saw, extend- 
ing from the cutting end some distance toward 
the body of the tool, and a ring encompassing the 
tool and provided with set screws, which by their 
action as they were turned found a bearing against 
the cleft portions of the tool and so constructed 
the aperture. This has not been very satisfactory 
in practice, and the solid-made tool has been the 
only one that has been considered the best and 
most reliable ; and when* worn so that it gave a 
larger diameter, it was thrown aside and a new 
one substituted. 



188 mechanic's tool book. 



GEINDING CYLINDKICAL SUEFACES. 

The turning of long and slender rods in the 
lathe, so as to have them of a true cylindrical 
form, is quite difficult even when a back-rest is 
used ; irregularities which are unobservable by 
the eye are easily detected by passing the rod be- 
tween the fingers. Even short and thick rods, 
that are too rigid to spring under the action of the 
turning tool, are found to have slight irregulari- 
ties, which may be accounted for by imperfections 
of the lathe or by the wearing of the tool, or from 
hard or soft places in the metal. It will be ob- 
served, then, that to produce a perfect cylindrical 
surface in the lathe is a matter of some difficulty, 
and the only method seems to be to turn the work 
as true as possible, and then complete it by grind- 
ing with some abrasive substance, as powdered 
emery, moistened with water or oil, which is the 
material generally employed. 

The application of emery as an abrasive means 
for producing cylindrical surfaces is quite simple, 
as it is evident that the cylinder must be confined 
between surfaces the counterpart of those to be 
produced, and then well supplied with the abrad 



GRINDING CYLINDRICAL SURFACES. 189 

ing material ; it is quickly revolved and operated 
upon until the requisite surface is produced. If a 
block of metal, as iron, steel, or brass, be bored 
with a hole of the size to which the rod is to be 
reduced, and one end of the rod made to enter 
this hole, both rod and aperture being well sup- 
plied with oil and emery, it is evident that by 
moving the block in which the rod is inserted over 
the length of the work, it will be reduced so that 
it will correspond to the diameter of the hole. A 
block of lead or tin may be cast around the rod 
and supplied with emery and oil and operated as 
mentioned. This perhaps is the readiest way of 
forming a block, as it is easier to melt and recast 
the soft metal than it is to prepare and accurately 
drill the iron or steel block. The latter is useless 
unless of the proper size, but the former can be 
often remelted and used as at first. 

For the use of the amateur an abjustable tool 
which may be recommended, consists of two cast- 
iron or brass shells, cylindrical in form, and of a 
length sufficient to keep them steady upon the 
work. These shells have ears upon each side, and 
screws pass through these ears and confine the 
two parts or halves together. Two middle ears 
may be made with set screws to prevent the shells 
being closed beyond a certain point. To each of 
these shells handles are attached, so as to enable 
the operator to hold the tool and also to enable 
him to traverse it over the rod to be ground. The 
interior circles of the shells are made so that 



190 



mechanic's tool book. 



when the tool is placed around the rod it is much 
larger than its circumference, and this space is 
filled with molten tin, lead or babbitt-metal. If a 
difficulty should present of the soft metal not re- 
taining its place, several small holes may be drilled 
a little distance in the shells, and the metal filling 
these holes when cast will form a sufficient hold to 
retain it. By slacking the set screws and tighten- 
ing the binding screws, the size may be varied, to 
suit small variations of diameter 
in rods. 

A side view of this tool is given 
in Fig. 41, and a top view in Fig. 
42. The set screws and binding 
screws enable the circular aper- 
ture to be kept rigidly of a con- 
stant diameter, except as it may 
be enlarged by the material used 
in the grinding process. 

For the purpose of casting the 
lead or tin within the shells, the 
set screws are withdrawn and the 
binding screws are slackened so 
as to leave an opening of about a 
quarter of an inch between the 
flat faces of the shells. They are 
then placed edgewise upon a 
block or some level support, and 
a short cylinder or core of the 
same diameter as the cylinder to 
be ground is placed centrally in Fig. 41. Iig.42. 




GRINDING CYLINDRICAL SURFACES. 191 

the aperture of the shells, and two slips of 
wood are placed so that they form a continu- 
ation of the circle where this circle is broken 
by the separation, and then the parts are firmly 
pinched together by the binding screws, the 
melted metal poured in, so that it fills the 
cavity and encloses the core. The slips of 
wood serve to keep the shells at the required 
distance apart, and also serve to retain the metal, 
which otherwise would flow out at those places. 
It is almost unnecessary to repeat that the aper- 
ture of the shells should be much larger than the 
work to be ground, and the slips of wood taken 
out when the tool is to be used. 

To keep the core centrally in the aperture of 
the shells, while the metal is being poured, it may 
have a portion of its length inserted in a hole in 
the block or board on which it is placed. If it be 
desired to cast the metal round the work itself, it 
may be so fixed and the metal poured. To pre- 
vent the flowing out and waste of the metal, all 
such points as would be likely to aflbrd such es- 
cape are luted with clay, or even common putty 
such as is used by glaziers to fasten in windows 
may be used. 

In using a tool of this character after the rod to 
be ground is put in rapid rotation, the tool is 
grasped with the hands and transversed backward 
and forward over the rod, and as the parts pre- 
sented to its action are reduced the set screws are 
loosened and the binding screws are correspond- 



192 mechanic's tool book. 

ingly tightened in order to decrease the circle and 
enable it to clasp the work with the requisite 
pressure. Adjust the tool and pass it over the 
rod until it continues to slide smoothly and with 
uniform resistance from one end to the other ; oil 
and emery are to be applied during the entire op- 
eration. 

It is advisable to make the grinding surface as 
near a counterpart of the cylinder as possible, and 
if a very perfect surface be desired, it would be 
well to reduce the inequalities with the application 
of one set of soft-metal castings, and then remove 
them and cast a fresh set with which to complete 
the operation. 

Another application of this method is to fix the 
grinding tool in the tool-post of the lathe, and let 
it traverse the work from end to end, as it is ro- 
tated, keeping it supplied with oil and emery and 
advancing it to the work as it is reduced. In this 
case it is not necessary to encircle the cylinder or 
rod with a metal block, as an encircling of one- 
third or one-half the circumference is sufficient. 

In some kinds of machinery it is necessary to 
accurately grind large rolls so that they may be 
perfectly true, and after these rolls are turned in 
the lathe as true as possible, they are mounted on 
their own bearings in a frame similar to that in 
which they are to be employed, and made capable 
of a slow rotation, A wooden cylinder supplied 
with a coating of emery is revolved with great ve- 
locity just in contact with the roll, which as it 



GRINDING CYLINDRICAL SURFACES. 193 

slowly turns is reduced by the quick-running em- 
ery-wheel. The roll must revolve in a direction 
opposite to that of the emery-wheel. 

The same application may be made in the lathe, 
by slowly revolving the work and fixing the em- 
ery-wheel in the tool-post of the lathe and letting 
it traverse the work, the necessary speed being 
communicated to the grinding-wheel from any 
convenient pulley. 

Musket and rifle barrels were formerly reduced 
to a proper size and cylindrical form by the abra- 
sion of a quick-revolving grindstone. An iron rod 
was inserted in the bore of the barrel, which was 
then held in a suitable recess in a swinging frame, 
and upon being brought in contact with the re- 
volving stone the barrel was slowly turned by 
means of a crank attached to the rod upon which 
it was held until it was properly reduced. 



194 mechanic's tool book. 



GEINDING INTEENAL CYLINDEICAL SUE- 
FACES. 

Internal cylindrical surfaces, such as the bear- 
ings for spindles, are ground with cylindrical rods 
and fine emery which may be of wood, lead, tin, 
brass, or iron. Two kinds of these grinding-rods 
are employed : solid cylinders of the required dia- 
meter, and using a succession of such cylinders as 
the aperture is enlarged ; or the rods may be 
made with a small power of expansion to avoid 
the necessity of several solid ones. 

The simplest form of grinding-rod is to select a 
bar of iron, and make a cast lead or other soft 
metal of the required size upon it. If it be the 
aperture of a pulley that is to be ground, the iron 
rod may be inserted in the hole and luted at the 
bottom to prevent the escape of the metal, and 
then the melted metal is poured in until the aper- 
ture around the rod is fully charged. The rod is 
then withdrawn, the lead covered with oil and 
emery and inserted in the hole. The pulley is 
either rotated or it may be held fast and the rod 
rotated. To prevent rings forming by unequal 
abrasion, it is necessary to give a longitudinal 



GRINDING INTERNAL CYLINDRICAL SURFACES. 195 

motion to either the rod or the object being 
ground, and as the metal upon which the abrasive 
material is applied is of the same length as the 
hole being ground, it is limited in its longitudinal 
motion. This difficulty can be obviated by cast- 
ing the lead upon the rod in any convenient mold 
which is larger and longer than the aperture to be 
ground, and then turning it in a lathe to the re- 
quired dimensions. When such a rod is passed 
through a hole it will equalize it, and there is no 
danger of forming rings. To facilitate the enter- 
ing of the casting, it may be made slightly taper- 
ing at one end. Where there are two holes or 
bearings to be ground, which are parallel to each 
other, the same rod is made to serve for each, and 
at the same time serve for a guide to insure the 
holes being ground parallel to each other, 'in 
grinding two holes parallel to each other, but of 
unequal diameter, two castings of the same un- 
equal diameter are made upon the rod and turned 
to the required size, one to fit the larger and the 
other to fit the smaller hole. Both holes being 
ground at the same time insures their parallelism. 
Short cylindrical holes such as in ring-gauges, 
circular cutters, case-hardened plates with holes, 
etc., may be accurately ground by revolving the 
work in a lathe, and applying a grinding tool 
made of soft iron, copper, or lead, which is of the 
required size, and charged with oil and emery. A 
cheap grinder may be made by making a wooden 
rod of the size of the hole, then split one end of it 



196 mechanic's tool book. 

and insert a wedge, which maybe advanced as the 
hole is enlarged. If preferable the rod may be 
rotated, and the work held in the hands or fixed 
in a slide-rest. For holes in small work a steel 
rod may be bent so as to form a circle at its cen- 
ter, and the two ends brought parallel near each 
other ; the cylinder of lead may be cast upon these 
ends, and then sawn asunder longitudinally and 
then made to extend apart by spring g the cen- 
tral portion ; the elasticity of the metal being suffi- 
cient to produce the force to accomplish the abra- 
sion, or if this should prove insufficient, the wedge 
may be employed as just stated. 

If it be desired to make a cylinder grinding-rod 
that will answer for several-sized holes, it may be 
made in two halves to allow for expansion, each 
half being semi-circular, and one being fitted with 



Fig. 43. 

a steady-pin at each end, which is received in re- 
cesses made in the opposite half. A series of 
binding screws, dependent upon the length of the 
bar, but with their heads sunk below the surface, 
are inserted in either bar and received in tapped 
holes in the other. By loosening the screws upon 
either side the two bars may be retained at any 
convenient distance, dependent upon the length 
of the screws. To cast the lead upon the bars 



GRINDING INTERNAL CYLINDRICAL SURFACES. 197 

they are separated, and a thin slip of wood in- 
serted between them so that the lead when cast 
will be in two semi-circular portions. The wood 
may be removed or retained as may be desired. 

The molds for casting these soft-metal cylin- 
ders may be a block of wood with a hole bored in 
it, or a sheet of stout paper may be wound upon 
a cylinder of the requisite size and confined with 
a cord. The cylinder may then be removed, 
and the bar inserted preparatory to pouring the 
soft metal. In melting lead or soft metal for the 
purposes named, care should be taken that it be 
not too hot, or the casting may contain air-holes 
and present a honey-combed appearance. If lead 
be used a piece of paper may be insertecT in it 
when it is melted, and when at a temperature to 
just scorch the paper it may then be poured into 
the mold. 



198 mechanic's tool book. 



FITTING EXTEENAL AND INTEENAL 
CYLIKDEES BY GEINDING. 

It is frequently necessary to fit external and 
internal cylinders by grinding, and often these 
surfaces are hardened, as steel when tempered, or . 
iron when case-hardened, and by these processes 
of hardening or tempering the cylinders have 
warped or sprung from their original shape and 
form. If the cylinders are not much distorted by 
the process they have been submitted to, they are 
easily fitted by the internal cylinder being ground 
so that it will enter the external one for a little 
distance, and then oil and fine emery being plenti- 
fully supplied to both the external and internal 
surfaces ; the cylinder is then gradually worked in, 
using at first a circular motion only until it has 
entered sufficient to have a firm and steady hold, 
so that it will guide itself ; then using the exter- 
nal cylinder the same as a solid grinding-rod, 
work it back and forth with a screwing motion 
until it is fairly entered and properly fitted. 

It should be borne in mind that during the whole 
operation of grinding, the surfaces should be plen- 
tifully supplied with oil and emery, for should 



FITTING CYLINDERS BY GRINDING. 199 

they by any chance become dry, the friction will 
cause them to heat, and this may become so great 
that minute fragments of metal will be torn oft* 
and become so ground into the surfaces of both 
cylinders that it will require some effort to sepa- 
rate them, and oftentimes some force must be 
used, to the detriment of the work. This is es- 
pecially liable in untempered or work not hard- 
ened, as in fitting soft iron cylinders or fitting iron 
and brass cylinders together; but in hardened 
work the risk of its thus sticking together by the 
torn fragments is not so great, and the only dan- 
ger will be that resulting from the heat and ex- 
pansion during the process. 

In cylinders of soft metal there is another evil 
resulting from grinding, and that is the embed- 
ding of particles of the emery in the metal, which if 
the surfaces be journals or parts which are to work 
in contact, the particles so embedded will continue 
to abrade and eventually result in great injury, if 
not the complete destruction of those parts. 

When cylinders are being ground together the 
operation should be kept up until one will slide 
within the other with a uniform resistance, and 
then remove them and carefully and thoroughly 
clean them from all traces of the abrading mate- 
rial ; then coat them with clean and pure oil, and 
work them together for some time, which will 
serve to remove the traces of the emery, and will 
also serve to put a fine finish or polish on the sur- 
faces so operated upon. 



200 mechanic's tool book. 

The evil resulting from particles of emery be- 
coming embedded in brass work is remedied by 
using powdered pumice-stone and water, which 
from its softness is more easily removed from the 
metal. But no matter what material may be 
used for such operation, the greatest care should 
be used to carefully remove all traces of the abrad- 
ing powder from surfaces which will come in con- 
tact to work or rub upon one another. 



GRINDING CONICAL SURFACES. 201 



GRINDING CONICAL SURFACES. 

A conical surface is ground much in the same 
method as a cylindrical, and with tools of nearly 
the same general form, but with this difference, 
that the grinding surfaces are made conical instead 
of cylindrical, and they do not admit of being 
traversed through each other, after the manner (f£ 
grinding external and internal cylinders, to dis- 
tribute and correct errors. As the grinding tool 
used will transfer its errors to the work, the ac- 
curacy of the result of grinding cones depends 
upon the accuracy of the tools employed in the 
process. 

In grinding the external cone the work may be 
revolved in the lathe, and the grinding tool well 
supplied with oil and emery held in the hands tak- 
ing care to turn and twist it around to different 
positions, and to traverse it endwise as much as 
possible, the object being to distribute the abra- 
sive material, and thus prevent the liability of the 
work being ground with rings and ridges. It is 
necessary to make the conicalrecess of the grinding 
tool a little smaller than the work, as its enlarge- 



202 mechanic's tool book. 

ment and the reduction of the cone will, at the 
end of the operation, be about the intended size 
of the finished cone. The tool used for grinding 
external cones may be the same as the adjustable 
tool for grinding external cylindrical surfaces, and 
the method of casting the soft metal upon its in- 
terior may be the same as in that tool being cast 
in two halves upon the cone to be ground, or upon 
a separate cone which ought to be a little smaller 
than the one to be ground. 

In all cases, and more particularly in conical 
surfaces which are hardened as lathe spindles of 
this form sometimes are, precisely the same angle 
should be made upon this work while soft as that 
to which it is to be when completed by grinding, 
only leaving it a little larger in size to compensate 
for the reduction occasioned by the process, and 
this reduction need only be sufficient to remove 
the distortion occasioned by the process of hard- 
ening, tempering, and case-hardening, according 
to which process the metal may be subjected to. 
Conical surfaces in brass or similar soft metal may 
be ground with powdered pumice-stone moistened 
with water. 

If there be two cones joining each other upon 
the same spindle or piece of work, but made with 
different angles, a grinding tool cast to the coun- 
terpart of both forms may be first employed, and 
both cones ground at the same time, and this 
ought to be done to insure their being concentric 
with each other. If one cone be longer than the 



GRINDING CONICAL SURFACES. 203 

other, the long cone will serve as a guide for ap- 
plying the tool to the more obtuse one. 

Another method of grinding external cones is 
perhaps, more expeditious than the methods de- 
scribed. The work is fitted to revolve in the lathe, 
and an emery-wheel of small diameter is fitted to 
the slide-rest, or in any temporary bearings fitted 
to receive it, and placed with its face at the same 
angle as the level of the cone, and then put in 
rapid motion, reducing the cone as both cone and 
wheel revolve, but in opposite directions. Another 
method may consist of a bar of iron on which is a 
casting of lead, made to encircle about half the 
diameter of the cone, and, when freely supplied 
with oil and emery, made to move longitudinally 
over a distance about the length of the cone, and 
in a line with its angle. 

In grinding an internal cone the same principles 
may be applied as just mentioned. The work may 
be revolved in a chuck or by being bolted upon 
the face-plate of the lathe, and the grinding tool 
cast in soft metal and made to fit a portion of the 
diameter of the cone, and by means of a slide-rest, 
set at a suitable angle, the grinding tool is made 
to traverse the surface to be ground. The revolv- 
ing wheel may in some instances, be used upon 
internal conical surfaces. 

Solid conical grinding surfaces of soft metal or 
brass, cast upon cylinders or rods of iron, are the 
means generally employed for grinding the sur- 
faces of internal cones, but the same objections 



204 mechanic's tool book. 

which result from grinding external cones with 
tools of the same size exist in the case of internal 
surfaces. If an external cone be fitted to an in- 
ternal one the two may be ground together, being 
freely supplied with oil and emery, and this will 
insure a perfect contact ; but there is a liability 
of the two surfaces grinding ridges into each other 
which may be very detrimental. 

For long conical holes an adjustable tool may 
be used, and this tool can be made to fit internal 
cones upon the same plan as for grinding internal 
cylindrical surfaces, which can be done by means 
of three or more set screws inserted upon opposite 
sides of the halves of the divided tool. These set 
screws may be slackened or changed with the pro- 
gress of the work, thus avoiding the necessity of 
employing more than one tool. In its application 
either the work or tool may be revolved, as may 
be desired or most convenient or as the nature of 
the work may demand. 



PRODUCTION OF SPHERICAL SURFACES. 205 



PEODUCTION OF SPHEEICAL SUEFACES. 

The production of a spherical surface is not so 
difficult as the novice might imagine, and where a 
sphere detached from the supports employed in its 
formation is desired, it may be produced in this 
manner : — Center the material from which the 
sphere is to be produced, and after having ascer- 
tained the desired size it is intended to make it, 
turn a groove of this size in the material midway 
between the centers upon which it rotates ; then 
remove it and fix it so as to rotate at a right an- 
gle to its former plane of rotation, fixing the cen- 
ters on this groove, which will serve as a guide to 
remove the surplus material. As the groove 
which was first turned is no other than a perfect 
circle, if the work be properly centered when the 
change in its rotation is made, and the surplus 
material removed to this guiding groove, the re- 
sult will be a form which will not vary from the 
spherical. 

There is another method of producing a sphere 
by means of a tool pivoted to a rest, the pivot 
finding a support upon the bed-piece of the lathe 
at a point directly under the work, thus enabling 



206 mechanic's tool book. 

the tool to be moved in the segment of a circle, 
limited in size to the distance from the cutting- 
edge of the tool to the pivot. It is evident that 
as a tool moves in a circle around the pivoted end, 
a circle of a corresponding size depending upon 
the distance of the cutting tool from this pivot 
will be the result. This tool may be made self 
acting, by placing the rest upon a horizontal 
wheel, which turns upon the pivoted point ; this 
wheel may be moved by means of a gear made 
upon its circumference, meshing into a worm- 
wheel which actuates it. In turning globes and 
balls of wood, where rapidity is desired, a handle 
may be fixed to the rest, to move it and the tool, 
which are pivoted as first explained; the rest 
moving in a circular manner to form the spherical 
shape. The tool used for wood might be made in 
the form of a fork at its cutting end, and then 
these forked ends will cut much nearer to the cen- 
ters, and remove more of the wood, so that the 
work approaches nearer to the sphere at these 
points than if it were not so made. The heads of 
the lathes are generally so formed that they inter^ 
fere with a sufficient movement of the tool to cut 
very close to those parts upon which the work 
rotates. 

There is another method of producing a sphere 
which is generally used by those who make the 
" ball cherries" used to shape the spherical recess 
in bullet molds. It is based upon the principle 
that if a rotating body be passed through a cir- 



PRODUCTION OF SPHERICAL SURFACES. 



207 



cular aperture at a right angle to its axis, a sphere 
will result. In this instance a circular aperture 
is made near the end of a flat bar of steel, as 
shown in Fig. 44, and great care is taken to insure 




Fig. 44. 

the accuracy of such aperture. Upon one side of 
the flat bar the metal contiguous to the hole is 
removed so that a beveled cutting edge, and then 
a portion of the metal in the form of a V is also 
removed, so that the apex of the V enters the 
aperture ; when thus formed, the bar is carefully 
tempered for use. The piece of steel from which 
the " cherry" is to be made is rotated in the lathe 
between the centers and roughly fashioned with 
the turning tool into the semblance of a sphere. 
The part which was supported by the dead center 
is then cut off or removed, and the work made to 
rotate without that support. The bar of steel in 
which the circular aperture is made is the plaae 
underneath the roughly-fashioned sphere, the V- 
shaped opening being presented to the part of the 
metal to which the rough phere is attached, and 



208 mechanic's tool book. 

passed over or rather the sphere is passed through 
the aperture, the V-shaped recess admitting of 
such operation. The cutting edges of the tool 
around the aperture scrape, as it were, the surface 
of the sphere until it will admit of its passing en- 
tirely through, when it will present the form as 
seen in Fig. 45. It will be necessary that a liberal 
supply of oil be applied during the process, or 
otherwise the tool may tear the surface of the 
work and it will be spoiled for its intended use. 
Where an extreme nicety is required in the pro- 
duction of these spheres for making bullet molds, 
it is better to employ two of these tools, the first 
one to form the sphere nearly the size, and then 
use a finishing tool which has a keener cutting 
edge and has an aperture of the exact dimensions 
that are required in the finished " cherry." 

To insure accuracy of the aperture in the bar of 
steel which is to form the sphere, as it is liable to 
warp or change in the process of tempering, it 
may be necessary to grind it to an exact circle by 
some of the means used to grind hollow cylindri- 
cal surfaces. 



GRINDING SPHERICAL SURFACES 209 



GKIXDING SPHEEIOAL SURFACES. 

The common method of grinding spheres is 
based upon the fact that a perfect sphere is at its 
every part a true circle, and if this sphere is placed 
within a circular grinding tool, or ring of some- 
what smaller diameter than the finished sphere, 
and it be brought to bear upon a narrow circular 
portion of the ring, then by putting the sphere in 
rotation, and turning it equally in every direction, 
its prominent parts will be successfully reduced 
by the action of abrasive material in contact with 
the ring, and the result will be a perfect sphere. 

The tool used for this purpose may be either of 
iron or brass, and its thickness equal about one- 
th\f d the diameter of the sphere, and of a width 
sufficient to allow a conical-shaped hole to be 
made, sufficiently large to allow about one-fourth 
of the diameter of the sphere to project through 
the smaller end of the hole. The principle of 
grinding depends upon the rotation of the sphere 
within this ring or tool. For large spheres, the 
grinding tool may be made of a bar of iron with a 
conical hole made at its central portion, and the 
bar extending a sufficient length each side to form 



210 mechanic's tool book. 

handles for the purpose of holding it, and rings of 
brass or other soft metal of the proper size and 
shape may be inserted in the large hole of the bar 
to form the grinding surface For a sphere of an 
inch in diameter, the bearing surface should never 
exceed one-sixteenth of an inch wide. There is 
more danger of embracing a too large portion of 
the sphere than too little, as perfection cannot be 
attained until the bearing surface of the tool is 
very much reduced. 

To hold the sphere for the purpose of grinding, 
two revolving chucks are necessary, each chuck 
being indented to receive a small portion of the 
sphere, and both are placed so as to revolve in the 
same line but in contrary directions. The chucks 
may be made of pieces of wood screwed upon 
mandrels, and the speed of rotation ought to be 
the same for both, which can be accomplished by 
the spindle-pulleys being of the same size, and be- 
ing driven from a drum of equal diameter at the 
place where the driving-belts are placed. It is 
necessary to cross one of the belts to produce the 
motion of rotation of one spindle in the opposite 
direction to that of the other. The internal be- 
tween the chucks should be the same as the dia- 
meter of the sphere. 

In grinding, the sphere is placed in the conical 
hole of the grinding tool, and oil and emery or 
other necessary abrasive material supplied ; the 
chucks are put in rapid motion, and the sphere is 
slipped between them. The tool is held horizon- 



GRINDING SPHERICAL SURFACES. 211 

tally by the handles, and is pressed sideways 
against the sphere to keep the grinding surface 
equally in contact with it. The sphere is at the 
same time slowly but uniformly traversed by the 
grinding tool around the chucks, as the fastest ro- 
tation is at the greatest distance from the chucks 
between which it rotates. Notwithstanding the 
resistance of the tool, the simultaneous action of 
the chucks on the opposite sides of the sphere 
causes its rotation. It is obvious that the greater 
the speed of the chucks the quicker will be the 
process of grinding. Care must be taken to keep 
the chucks pressed close to the sphere and cause 
its rotation within the grinding tool, or otherwise 
the surfaces of the chucks may become charged 
with the abrasive material and act as tools to* 
grind facets upon the sphere. The necessary 
amount of oil and emery is supplied while the 
chucks and sphere are in motion, and it must not 
be permitted to linger longer on one part of the 
circle than another, or the sphere would be ground 
at that part and become an oval. 

The method in which the marbles used by child- 
ren as playthings are produced, is first to break the 
stone from which they are made into suitable frag- 
ments of cubical form, and about one hundred and 
fifty of these are ground at a time, in a mill simi- 
lar to a flour mill, the lower stone of which re- 
mains at rest, and Has several concentric circular 
grooves or furrows made on its surface. The 
upper stone is of the same diameter as the lower. 



212 mechanic's tool book. 

and is made to revolve at a little distance above 
it. Minute streams of water are directed into the 
furrows of the lower stone. The pressure of the 
running stone on the little fragments is to roll 
them in all directions and reduce them to nearly 
perfect spheres. About a quarter of an hour com- 
pletes the operation. Instead of an upper stone, 
a disk of hard wood has been sometimes used 
with nearly as good an effect. 



GRINDING PLANE SURFACES. % 213 



GEINDING PLANE SUEFAOES. 

In hardening steel work it commonly happens 
that during the process it becomes more or less 
distorted from its intended form, and grinding 
must be resorted to as a means of remedying the 
evil. The abrading wheels used for this purpose 
are either common grinding-stones or some com- 
pound which contains the abrasive material in its 
composition ; a plane wheel of iron, lead, tin, or 
a wooden disk covered with leather. The stone or 
composition wheels require no application of 
abrasive material, as that is contained in its 
parts ; but where metal wheels are used, the abra- 
sive material must be applied with oil, and when 
smeared over the surface of the flat side of the 
wheel, the work is applied, moving it about in 
different positions until it is sufficiently reduced. 
The wheel when covered with leather must have 
the material applied by means of glue or some 
similar substance. When it is desired to have the 
work present a true surface, it is necessary that 
the wheels be made very true and accurate. 
There is a constant tendency to destroy the plane 
surface of the wheel, because the outer part or 



214 mechanic's tool book. 

external diameter gets the more worn, on account 
of the greater rapidity of the action of that part, 
and to obviate this it is necessary to move the 
work near the spindle on which the wheel turns 
or keep it in motion over all the surface of the 
wheel. It would, perhaps, be very desirable to 
have the finishing touches performed as near the 
outer diameter as possible. 

As good a grinding wheel for flat surfaces as we 
ever used was made of a face-plate belonging to a 
lathe, and upon this plate was cast a heavy coat 
of lead, with a little tin in alloy to slightly harden 
it ; and this leaden coating was nicely turned or 
finished till its surface was perfectly true, as indi- 
cated by a steel straight-edge when applied. This 
surface was smeared with oil and emery and the 
work held upon it, moving it around until it was 
sufficiently ground. As the wheel revolved in the 
air, or with no bearing to impede manipulation upon 
the working surface, it was found to be some advan- 
tage in applying and handling the work, and when 
the leaden face became worn it could be turned oif 
and it would then last for a time, dependent upon 
the thickness of the leaden coating. This coating 
was held by the soft metal flowing into the in- 
terstices as are usually formed in all large lathe 
face-plates. It was at one time desired to grind 
the flat surfaces of a kind of valve which had a 
long stem, and by drilling a hole at the center of 
the wheel this stem could be inserted in the hole 
and the surface of the valve ground with great 



GRINDING PLANE SURFACES. 215 

ease and rapidity. The natural grind-stone is the 
best means for grinding rough surfaces and then 
finish with metallic wheels supplied with abrasive 
powder, of which emery of different grades is gen- 
erally used. For brass, powdered xnunice-stone 
and water may be employed. If great accuracy 
be desired, a hard metallic face should be used for 
the grinding-wheel, as a cast-iron or brass wheel, 
or a wheel of similar metal coated with type metal 
or similar hard alloy. If a fine surface or a high 
polish be the desideratum, the opposite quality — 
softness — must be sought for, and a wheel coated 
with pure lead and scantily supplied with very 
fine polishing powder may be used, but the leaden 
faced wheel is preferable ; as the lead being yield- 
ing, allows the emery to become imbedded in its 
surface, and consequently a smooth face can be 
produced with emery of quite coarse grade. But 
when wheels of harder metal are used the emery 
cannot penetrate it, a portion is lost when the 
work is applied, and the remainder rolls over and 
makes scratches in the work nearly equal in depth 
to the size of the grains employed. Wheels for 
small work may be made to rotate upon any part 
of a spindle, but for larger work had better be 
fixed upon the end of a spindle which may stand 
in a vertical or horizontal position. As the vary- 
ing velocity of the wheel decreases from the pe- 
riphery to the center, and the center is liable to 
become less worn, then the outer surface of about 
one-third of the extreme diameter of the wheel 



216 mechanic's tool book. 

may be removed or omitted in making, so as to 
leave a central aperture of that size. 

Work that is thin may be fastened to a piece of 
wood, by driving two or three pieces of wire into 
the wood around the edges of the work, but it may 
be sometimes convenient to cement small or very 
thin objects to a brass or iron plate and remove 
them by warming a little when the work is done. 
This cement may be made by melting together 
two pounds of Burgundy pitch, two ounces of 
yellow wax or two pounds of Spanish white ; when 
thoroughly melted and incorporated roll into sticks. 
To use it melt the end of the stick by holding it 
near the fire and rub it upon the bit of wood upon 
which the work is to be attached. Warm the 
work to be applied, place it upon the warm cement, 
and it will firmly adhere. If there be no danger 
of injuring the work, a blow of a mallet will re- 
move it ; but if the work be thin or of a delicate 
character, it must be warm, and when the cement 
is softened, it can be safely removed. 



THE MILLING MACHINE. 217 



THE MILLING MACHINE. 

It is only within a few years that the true value 
of the milling machine has been known and ap- 
preciated. In its infancy it was a rude machine, 
quite unlike the one whose form we daily see in 
use. The employment of rotary cutters was no 
doubt suggested by the idea that tools made cir- 
cular in form and with teeth upon their periphery 
rotated upon a spindle would, if the material to be 
operated upon were rightly placed, cut each indi- 
vidual piece into forms of which one would be the 
exact fac-simile of another. The tools used may 
be considered simply as the application of the file- 
surface upon disks of steel, rotated instead of 
moving reciprocatingly. 

As with all other tools, necessity was the mother 
of the milling machine, and the first-born imple- 
ment was rude indeed. It consisted of a puppet- 
head attached to a wooden bed-plate ; and moving 
transversely with the spindle of this puppet-head 
was a carriage, to which the work to be reduced 
was attached by means of a pair of clamp-jaws. 
As oil was necessary to lubricate the cutters when 
iron or steel was acted upon, the wooden bed soon 
J 



218 mechanic's tool book. 

became so thoroughly saturated with oil that it 
was no pleasant task to come in contact with any 
portion of the machine. This first machiue may 
be called an experiment, and its result was in a 
high degree satisfactory. The necessary curves 
given to different portions of metal, particularly 
in gun-work, in the manufacture of which this 
machine originated, could not well be produced 
by any other means. The curves and irregular 
shapes of such parts as lock-plates, bands, and 
trimmings which were let into corresponding re- 
cesses in the stock, could be readily and exactly 
formed and multiplied to any extent, while if the 
forms of these same parts were to be produced by 
the manipulation of the filer, it would be a tedious, 
elaborate, and costly production. 

At the present day the milling machine is a 
finished tool, and an ornament to the shop it occu- 
pies. It operates with certainty and works strong 
and smoothly, and is capable of enlargement to al- 
most any extent. As its origin is due to the gun- 
factory, it was in the manufacture of arms alone 
that it has been used for many years. We think 
that the next placein which it was employed was in 
the sewing-machine factory. And here, as ingun- 
work, many duplicate pieces were required pre- 
cisely of the same form, and no other tool could so 
produce them. Outside of these two employments, 
it is only at a late day that its value has been ob- 
served and its merit become known in other trades. 
In the jobbing machine-shop we begin to see that 



THE MILLING MACHINE. 219 

the milling machine has a value, and that with it 
and a few cutters many forms of work can be pro- 
duced at a cheaper rate and in a better manner 
than by either planer or lathe. 

The great value of the machine seems to have 
been its adaptability to produce irregular forms 
which are exact similes of each other ; but it is 
also applicable to the squaring-up of the ends of 
rods and bars of iron, the forming of spline and 
key seats, shaping nuts and bolt heads, the cut- 
ting of geared wheels and the making of the cut- 
ters which produce this work, the fluting of ream- 
ers, and making twist drills, which are costly to 
purchase, but by the milling machine may be 
cheaply produced. These are but a few examples 
of its capability. The usual planer fixtures can 
be adapted to hold the various kinds of work, and 
other appliances adapted to peculiar forms of 
work can be easily fitted by a mechanic of even 
common ability. 



220 mechanic's tool book. 



MILLING MACHINE OUTTEES. 

It is the custom to make a certain class of mill- 
ing machine cutters of a single piece of steel, 
which is used singly upon the machine spindle, 
while in other cases several cutters of different 
sizes and shapes are placed side by side upon the 
same spindle, and form what is called "a block" 
of cutters. These cutters are turned to the proper 
shape and thickness, and numerous teeth made 
extending in an axial or spiral direction around 
the circumference of the cutter. These teeth are 
cut by means of a planer or a revolving cutter of 
the proper shape. It often happens that some 
portions of the work upon which these cutters are 
to be engaged are deeper than others and of ir- 
regular forms, in which case a block of cutters is 
used of the. opposite form, and when in motion 
they act as a single cutter. This method of form- 
ing cutters, consisting of a series instead of a sin- 
gle one, has, especially where a wide cut is to 
be taken, many advantages, inasmuch as many of 
the irregular forms could not be produced by a 
single cutter, and if at any time a cutter becomes 
injured or broken, as will often happen, it can be 



MILLING MACHINE CUTTERS. 221 

readily removed and a new one substituted. In 
tempering there is less danger of the cutters warp- 
ing or twisting when thus separately made to 
form a series than there is when the large and ir- 
regular form is of a solid piece of steel. It is also 
easier to cut the teeth in thin or narrow cutters 
than it is in the broad irregularly-formed ones, 
and also easier to grind and keep them in order 
when they are dulled. 

In forging the steel for cutters for the milling 
machine care must be exercised not to overheat 
the steel or to compress it by forging more in one 
place than in another, as the density of different 
portions, induced by the unequal forging, will tend 
to make it spring when it is hardened, and where 
a block of cutters are placed upon a spindle and 
confined by a nut being screwed up to hold them 
fast, the irregularities caused by springing in 
tempering will cause the spindle to spring so that 
the cutters will present eccentric instead of con- 
centric circles in their rotation, and the irregular- 
ities of shape will divide the labor of the cutters 
unequally, as the most prominent portions will do 
the work, while the less prominent perform little 
or nothing of the labor. As a consequence, the 
work is not left so nice, and the operation is at- 
tended with more risk of breaking the cutter. 

If by chance a cutter should be sprung in tem- 
pering, it may perhaps be brought true by grind- 
ing its sides, but it will be done at the expense of 
diminishing its width. 



222 mechanic's tool book. 

As to the best shape for the teeth of cutters no 
two experts will agree, as one will prefer one an- 
gle and another a different one ; but on one thing 
all are agreed, and that is in forming the teeth 
much thinner than in common turning tools, and 
also in shaping the teeth so as to give sufficient 
release for the cuttings, or the spaces between 
the cutting points will become clogged with the 
metal removed while in operation. The speed at 
which these cutters should revolve should be 
about the same as the same material to be cut 
would rotate in the lathe if so placed for turning. 

While the cutters are engaging the work which 
they form or reduce, oil is supplied to them to pre- 
vent their being destroyed by the heat which the 
friction would otherwise induce. As the strain 
produced upon the cutter is quite considerable, 
the line of the teeth ought to be made in the form 
of a spiral, so that if a line be drawn upon the cir- 
cumference of the cutter in the same direction as 
the line of its axis, one tooth tvill commence at 
this line and the subsequent tooth will end at it. 
This will distribute the strain evenly over the 
teeth, and they will be less liable to break and a 
heavier cut can be taken. 

As some trouble may be experienced in turning 
up the blanks, if they be of irregular form, of the 
proper shape by means of a template, a simple 
operation may be adopted which will save a great 
amount of labor. Turn the cutter blank or blanks 
roughly into form in the lathe, and then remove 



MILLING MACHINE CUTTERS. 223 

them to the milling machine and fix them as they 
are to be used when finished. Make a pattern of 
a stout piece of steel of the exact profile form the 
cutter is to produce in the work. Slope one edge 
of this pattern back a few degrees so as to make a 
stout cutting edge, and nicely temper it. Screw r 
it in the vise or jaws of the machine,, where the 
work is to be inserted, and fix it in the same man- 
ner as the work is to be placed. Then set the 
machine running, and, using a very light feed, run 
the pattern just under the blanks, high enough to 
enable it to remove a portion of the intervening 
surface. If it be not reduced enough, then de- 
crease the distance until the pattern produces its 
reverse exactly. The blanks can then be removed 
and the teeth upon the mill or cutter made and 
tool tempered for use. 



224 mechanic's tool book. 



SELECTING STEEL FOE TOOLS. 

Three requisites are necessary in the selection 
of steel for tools, and those requisites are hard- 
ness, tenacity, and properties of working in a 
heated state, as forging or welding, but these 
properties vary according to the amount of carbon 
contained in the steel. Pure iron contains no car- 
bon, while steel suitable for tools or instruments 
with cutting edges contains less than two per 
cent., but so small is the amount of carbon neces- 
sary to adapt steel to the purposes for which it is 
intended, it is not to be wondered at if the sup- 
ply, as received from different makers, should 
vary in its character and quality, and that some 
experience is necessary to select steel suitable for 
particular purposes. Those who are experienced 
and manipulate the metal can readily judge of its 
character and composition, with a sufficient de- 
gree of accuracy, so that it is not essential to 
submit the metal to a chemical analysis. Good 
cast-steel will not bear a high heat without injury, 
and when this heat is raised to what is termed a 
" white heat" will fall in pieces upon receiving 
the slightest blow ; even at a bright red heat it 



SELECTING STEEL FOR TOOLS. 225 

will sometimes crumble under the action of the 
hammer. When heated to a "cherry-red" it can 
be wrought with safety, and can be drawn to a 
very fine edge or point. Inferior steel, on the 
contrary, whether at a high or low heat, will not 
so crumble, but in its action will approximate to 
good wrought-iron. One of the tests to distin- 
guish steel from iron is nitric acid, or, as formerly 
termed, aqua fortis ; when the acid is applied to 
the clear metallic surface it will leave a black 
stain upon steel, but will not so color iron. 

Tools requiring a fine firm edge must be made 
from superior steel, and as a hint on the selection 
of such steel, break a bar and observe the grain, 
and select that which is fine, and when this bar is 
somewhat hardened, as it usually is when received 
from the manufacturer, this fracture should pre- 
sent a dull silvery appearance, more close than soft 
steel, and of a uniformly white color. Indifferent 
steel will also show a close grain, and expert 
judges are sometimes deceived. Perhaps the best 
test for steel is in the forging and working, as its 
character can be then pretty plainly demonstrated. 
Steel that will not take a fine point will not re- 
ceive a fine firm edge; when a bar of steel is 
drawn to such a point, hardened, and gentle blows 
given by a hammer, its tenacity is shown, and 
when broken its value for cutting tools is pretty 
evident. These qualities of hardness and tenacity 
combined are also plainly shown by hardening a 
small bar or rod of good cast-steel, and a similar 



226 mechanic's tool book. 

rod of inferior steel. The former will require 
some severe blows to fracture it, and will present 
a fine lively appearance when broken, while the 
rod of inferior quality will break upon the least 
blow, and the fracture will be dull and as it were 
lifeless. 

The severest use to which a cutting tool can be 
put is in the form of a cold-chisel, and used upon 
iron castings or similar work, and this usage will 
test the goodness of the qualities requisite in the 
metal. The blows given in such work fully test 
its tenacity and hardness, and if it will satisfac- 
torily perform its duty in such operations there is 
but little fear that it will give way when formed 
into cutting tools which are not subjected to such 
rough manipulation. 



FORGING AND WELDING STEEL. 227 



FORGING AND WELDING STEEL. 

In heating steel, preparatory to forging or other 
working, the degree of heat imparted by the fire 
in which the steel is inserted is commonly judged 
by the eye, and, as the heat required to work steel 
diminishes with the increase of carbon it contains, 
it consequently requires great caution to heat and 
work it so that it will leave the hands of the forger 
uninjured. In comparison with iron, steel will 
bear less heat ; but, when worked at a low temper- 
ature, iron cannot be wrought without injury, 
whereas steel is improved by it, and its tenacity 
and fineness are much increased ; but if again 
heated to a high degree this effect is removed. 
Precise instructions cannot be given, either writ- 
ten or verbal, concerning the manipulation of 
steel, and actual experience in working begets a 
knowledge of its temperament which can be 
learned in no other way. 

The heat which can be used with the greatest 
safety in working steel is called the " cherry," so 
denominated from its resemblance to the color of 
that fruit, and two divisions may be made of this 
heat, called the "high" and the "low," and this 



228 mechanic's tool book. 

latter heat is sometimes called a " blood-heat " or 
" blood-red." Too frequent and too high heating 
abstracts the carbon from the steel, and reduces 
it to a state approaching that of iron. As the 
temperature of steel is increased, its affinity for 
oxygen is increased, and when heated to such a 
degree a scale is formed, and as this scale is re- 
moved a portion of the carbon of the steel is ex- 
tracted. At a low heat the affinity of the carbon 
for oxygen is very slight. When once deprived of 
its carbon by overheating, it may be somewhat 
restored by heating and hammering ; no degree of 
heat or no amount of hammering can restore to it 
the carbon, or give to it its original form of tex- 
ture. 

For cutting tools, while they are in process of 
forging, the steel should be hammered equally 
throughout, and the process continued until the 
metal is nearly cold. This should be observed 
especially during the last heat given to the 
articles. Equal forging will, in some measure, 
tend to prevent warping when the tools are tem- 
pered, as equal strokes and alike distributed, will 
equally compress the metal, and the expansion 
and contraction attendant upon the heating and 
cooling will be correspondingly equal. If steel 
rods or bars, as produced by means of rolls, be 
heated and cooled, or tempered, these will have 
less tendency to warp than if these same forms be 
produced by the forging hammer. Examples of 
this are seen in drills and tools and as made from 



FORGING AND WELDING STEEL. 229 

rods of steel, in which no hand forging has had a 
part in their formation. Twist drills made from 
steel wire seldom warp so that they are incapable 
of being used. If tools be made from the steel as 
received from the rolls, by first annealing it, 
" roughing out " the tool in the lathe, then anneal 
it a second time, and then finish it, but little fear 
of warping may be apprehended, especially if in 
tempering it be evenly heated and as evenly 
chilled. 

To weld steel without injury to it, is an opera- 
tion which requires some nicety of management 
and judgment to perform. The smaller the pro- 
portion of carbon and the greater the fibrous tex- 
ture of the metal, the easier will be the operation 
of welding. Mild steel, as shear-steel, containing 
a less proportion of carbon, welds with less diffi- 
culty than highly carbonized or cast-steel suitable 
for cutting tools. The fibrous texture of cast- 
steel being destroyed by the operation of fusing, 
it is more difficult to weld than steel which has 
not been subjected to this process. The more 
fusible the steel the less easily it welds. 

In welding together bars, or pieces of steel, the 
sand usually employed as a flux for iron must be 
discarded, and borax employed in its stead, and 
for this reason the sand requires a greater heat to 
melt or fuse than the welding heat of the steel ; 
for if steel were heated so that the sand would be 
sufficiently fused to act as a flux, the steel would 
be badly injured. Some of the cast-steels require 



230 mechanic's tool book. 

a still more fusible flux than even borax, and the 
sal-ammoniac is mingled with the borax. One part 
of sal-ammoniac to fifteen or twenty of borax is 
sufficient. The best and most economical mode to 
use borax is to put it in an iron kettle or ladle 
over the fire and heat it until it discontinues to 
" boil up," which announces that it is sufficiently 
calcined, and then pulverize it by some suitable 
means. The use of sal-ammoniac also tends to 
clean the dirt from the steel, and the borax causes 
it to fuse before it attains a heat that will burn 
it. 

A clear bright fire must be used during the 
operation of welding, and the presence of foreign 
metals, as lead, tin, brass, etc., must be rigidly 
guarded against. When the steel is somewhat 
heated it is withdrawn from the fire and the pow- 
dered borax applied, and when again inserted, the 
heat is raised as high as the steel will bear with- 
out injury. When at the point of fusion it is 
quickly taken from the fire, placed upon the anvil, 
and manipulated much in the same manner as 
iron. The blows to effect the unity of the welding 
are given gently at first, but are increased in force 
as the cohesion increases. If once heating does 
not produce the necessary union, the process of 
heating application of the borax must be repeated 
until the joint is perfectly sound. 



EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF STEEL. 231 



EXPANSION AND CONTKACTION OF 
STEEL. 

It is well known to workmen that by the pro- 
cess of hardening steel it is sometimes consider- 
ably enlarged, and work that was nicely fitted in 
its soft state is so expanded by the heating and 
chilling process that it will not fit places where it 
was intended, and grinding must be resorted to 
in order to produce the fit required. It is impos- 
sible to state the amount of this expansion, as it 
varies according to the size of the piece of steel, 
the amount of carbon it contains, and some on 
the degree of heat applied. The greater amount 
of carbon and the higher the degree of heat ap- 
plied the greater will be the expansion, and the 
nearer the steel approaches to the character and 
quality of wrought-iron the less will be the expan- 
sion. 

Where the expansion of steel would be guarded 
against, as it cannot be wholly prevented, the 
work may first be roughed out, either in the lathe, 
planer or by means of the file, as is most applica- 
ble, and is characteristic with the article, and 
then carefully annealed ; then when cool go over 



232 mechanic's tool book. 

it again in like manner, and if great precaution 
be needed repeat the process a third time. It 
may seem tedious to thus repeat this process, but 
where great accuracy is required and the articles 
are of such shape that they cannot well be ground 
to the form, it is better to thus carefully proceed 
than to run the risk by the non-observance of this 
process. It may be observed that tempering arti- 
cles after they are hardened somewhat reduces the 
bulk, but this is too trivial to be taken into ac- 
count in common practice. 

Contraction is also another peculiarity of har- 
dened steel, anomalous as it may seem, and while 
some articles of one form expand in hardening, 
another class will contract, and this is explained, 
upon this fact, if the article be so large that the 
interior portion be not chilled by the immersion 
the result will be expansion, but if the article be 
small or of such form that it is chilled equally 
throughout, then the result will be contraction. 

This faculty for contraction can be taken advan- 
tage of by the workmen ; if, for instance, he has a 
circular cutter or similar form of tool or appliance 
and the aperture should be made too large, and 
it is imperatively necessary to reduce it, then by 
heating the article and chilling it the contraction 
will be such that the aperture will be considerably 
reduced. A repetition of the operation will again 
reduce the aperture. This may be done by two or 
three times heating, but after that the aperture 
will tend toward elongation rather than equal con- 



EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF STEEL. 233 

traction. Where ring gauges are used and be- 
come worn by usage, this method may be em- 
ployed to reduce them to their original dimensions. 
If by hardening they are too small, they can be 
enlarged by grinding. Where drilling gauges 
of several inches in length are made, having two 
holes, one at each end of the gauge, and if by any 
oversight or want of accuracy these holes be too 
far apart, they may be brought to the proper dis- 
tance by careful heating the gauge and then 
quenching it in water. Annealing or drawing 
the temper will not restore the metal to its orig- 
inal dimensions. Gauges and similar tools are 
often thrown aside as useless, when a knowledge 
of this fact might enable them to be so contracted 
that they might be made to subserve as good a 
purpose as new tools. 



234 mechanic's tool book. 



ANNEALING OF STEEL. 

We have often noticed that, after the smith had 
finished his work and wished to leave the steel or 
iron forging in a condition of sufficient ductility 
for the lathe workman or filer to operate upon, he 
would carelessly heat the forging and either insert 
it into the ashes and coal-dust of the forge or 
heedlessly throw it upon the ground beside the 
anvil-block ; consequently when the turner or filer 
begins his work he finds it full of small hard spots, 
some of them exceedingly minute, and technically 
called "pins," which spoil the cutting edges of 
his tools and destroy his files. Finding it impossi- 
ble to proceed further in his manipulations he 
takes the unfinished article from the lathe or vice 
and sends it back to the forger to be re-annealed 
and returned to him. We have seen this process 
repeated two or three times on some kinds of 
work, when a little knowledge and care would 
remedy the whole thing. 

In annealing, the steel should be heated slowly 
and carefully, as there is as much danger in over- 
heating as there is in forging, and the whole 



ANNEALING OF STEEL. 235 

article must be thoroughly heated through, and 
brought to no higher temperature than a "light 
red " heat. If the article is long like a spindle, it 
must be turned frequently in the fire, to prevent 
its warping or becoming sprung by the unequal 
expansion upon its sides ; and at the same time 
be careful to heat it equally the entire length. 
The forger ought always to have an iron box of 
dry powdered charcoal by his forge, and in this 
quickly insert the article that is to be annealed, 
and cover it close with the coal-dust, so that the 
air cannot come to it, and there let it remain until 
perfectly cold and no sign of warmth be percepti- 
ble. If this is carefully done, the lathe workman 
or the filer will have no cause of complaint about 
" pins " in the course of his operations. 

Some forgers bury the articles that they wish to 
anneal in powdered or air-slacked lime, cast-iron 
borings, saw-dust, etc. These may answer a very 
good purpose, but they are in no way equal to the 
box of charcoal dust. 

There is another method called " fire annealing" 
that is practiced to some extent. It consists in 
heating the steel to a red hot and then holding it in 
a dark place until a faint glow of heat is seen upon 
it, and then quenching the heat that remains in it 
in water. This may answer when there is need of 
the forging to be wrought upon immediately, but 
it is an operation that we do not approve of, and 
is not as effectual as the operation that we have 



236 mechanic's tool book. 

described with coal-dust. Let any one who works 
in steel try the various methods, and they will 
give a hearty approval to the box of charcoal 
dust. 



HARDENING OF STEEL. 237 



HAEDENING OF STEEL. 

Skill and judgment in the manipulation of steel 
are qualities of which the expert workman may 
well be proud, yet there is nothing so difficult 
about it but that by patience any one of common 
abilities may become the possessor of it. 

The forging of steel tools requires great care, 
and for delicate instruments that are to be nicely 
tempered too great care on the part of the work- 
man cannot be exercised. The quality of the 
steel ought to be attended to, particularly for 
dies or cutting tools. Of this you can judge in a 
great measure by the fracture. Break the bar 
you wish to work. If the piece presents a clear, 
bright cleavage, that shows as if it had taken 
some force to separate it, the separate crystals or 
granulations scarcely observable, and the appear- 
ance that of a fine, light, slaty-gray tint, almost 
without luster, it may be considered to be good. 

After the tool or article that is to be tempered 
is finished up by the mechanic, it is to be har 
dened. To the inexperienced it appears to be a 
simple operation, and one that any one could eas- 
ily perform, consisting in nothing more than 



238 mechanic's tool book. 

heating it and suddenly quenching the heat in 
cold water. A very simple process surely ; then 
why so much ado about it ? Surely the greenest 
apprentice can do it. So he might ; but perhaps 
when the said apprentice takes the tool from 
the water in which it has been chilled it is warped, 
cracked, and entirely spoiled. The once nice tool 
is now only fit to be thown in the scrap-pile. 
Surely, after all, it does require some experience and 
judgment to temper steel. We will give a few 
hints that may not be wholly lost to the less ex- 
perienced who aspire to success in this art. 

The water that you use must not be too cold, 
and the steel must not be too hot. The heat 
should never exceed a low red. The reason why 
the water should not be too cold is this : — The 
water acts too suddenly on the outside of the 
steel, contracting it, and the expansion in the 
middle being more than the outside can bear, it 
causes the hardened and brittle covering to break. 
If the water is too cold throw a few coals into it, 
or plunge a bar of hot iron into it and take the 
chill oif the water. When this is done, look well 
to the heating of the article, heat it quite slowly 
and very evenly, and, when it is ready to harden, 
if there is a thick and thin part, plunge the thick- 
est part into the water first, and be careful to 
plunge it in the center of the vessel of water, so 
that the heat of the article will warm it equally 
on every side — if not, the unequal warmth may 
cause the article to warp. A worse thing will 



HARDENING OF STEEL. 239 

happen if the thin edge be put in first, for if the 
thick part has to contract after the thin part is 
chilled, the thin part cannot give, and will be con- 
sequently broken. By chilling a piece of steel 
and lifting it from the water before it is entirely 
cold, will produce the same effect. The outside 
being hardened and the inside quite hot, it begins 
to expand when taken from the water, and the 
breaking of the chilled surface is the result. In 
dipping articles in water that one part requires to 
be left soft, it often happens that it breaks where 
the water-line comes on the article. This is 
caused by the contraction of the portion in the 
water while that above the water is not contracted 
in the same proportion. To remedy this, move 
the article up and down a little, so that the water- 
line shall not be at a stationary point. This will 
be particularly applicable to tempering points of 
drills and chisels. 

Water that holds soap in solution is unfit to 
temper with. The water should be clean and pure. 
To insure a greater hardness, common salt may 
be added to the water so as to form a saline solu- 
tion. Gauges and burnishers that require to be 
very hard can be tempered to advantage in this 
solution. 



240 • mechanic's tool book. 



HABDEKLNG AND TEMPEKING STEEL 
TOOLS. 

There is scarcely an operation in mechanics 
which is performed with greater hazard than that 
of hardening and tempering tools; for if the 
operation be unskillfully performed, the whole 
labor of forging and finishing the tool, together 
with the value of the steel employed, is in an in- 
stant wholly destroyed and lost, and nothing 
avails but to perform again the labor and produce 
another tool. 

The dangers to which steel is liable in the pro- 
cess of hardening are warping and cracking. The 
first may be caused by unequal density in forging, 
one portion of the steel being more compressed 
than another by the hammer-blows, and unequal 
contraction ensues when the hardening takes place, 
which causes the article to warp or twist. Another 
cause of warping is when the thick and thin por- 
tions of the metal are so proportioned that in the 
shrinkage the thinner portion is forced to one side 
or pulled away, as it were, from its proper place ; 
and this may take place to such a degree as to 
cause the article to crack in a greater or less de- 



HARDENING AND TEMPERING STEEL TOOLS. 241 

gree. Too high a heat or too great coldness of 
the bath in which the articles are hardened may 
produce these results. 

As a remedy for warping from unequal forging 
care must be exercised by the person who executes 
this portion of the work, or steel may be used 
which has been formed by rolling or by means of 
the drop and die. As an instance to verify the 
truth of the assertion that rolled or drawn steel 
seldom warps, we may mention the twist drill as 
made from steel wire. The density of the metal 
being homogeneous in all parts, it seldom warps 
or springs in hardening. Where an article is made 
with thick and thin portions the best remedy is 
skill and judgment. The thick part must be 
chilled or come in contact with the water first, 
and by its first contracting it cannot bind upon 
the thin part so as to cause it to give way. It is 
difficult to give precise directions for such opera- 
tions, and the best suggestion is that the person in- 
trusted with such tools to harden should be pos- 
sessed of judgment and experience in these 
operations and have a knowledge of the nature of 
the material with which he is dealing. Even in 
placing tools which have unequal proportions in 
the fire, a springing or warping may be produced 
by one portion expanding more than another, and 
as much care is to be exercised in heating tools as 
in hardening. 

With the successful hardening of tools or other 
articles we may consider that the greatest danger 



242 mechanic's tool book. 

of destruction is past, and all that now remains is 
to reduce this hardness to the proper degree, or 
"draw the temper," as it is technically termed. 
Between the extreme conditions of hardened and 
soft steel there are many intermediate grades, the 
index of which is oxydation or " coloring" of the 
brightened surface when heat is applied. 

The brightening of the surface is accomplished 
by the mechanic in many ways. A piece of sand- 
stone or grind stone, or even a fragment of brick, 
is sometimes employed. The buff-stick, which 
consists of a piece of wood shaped like a file and 
covered, generally, with leather, but often not, 
and the surface coated with glue and emery, the 
glue holding the emery in place, is another means 
often used ; but the best of all is the polish- wheel, 
where a sufficient number of pieces or articles or 
the nicety of work will warrant of such procedure 
in its use. 

The tints or colors are produced upon the 
polished surface upon the application of heat, and 
the respective approximate temperatures, may be 
represented thus : — 

1. 430 degrees Fahr., very pale straw yellow. 



2. 


450 


«< 


*t 


a darker shade of yellow. 


3. 


470 


a 


a 


darker straw color. 


4. 


490 


ic 


u 


still darker straw color. 


5. 


500 


u 


n 


brown yellow. 


6. 


520 


It 


a 


yellow tinged with purple* 


7. 


530 


u 


a 


light purple. 


8. 


550 


u 


a 


dirk purple. 


9. 


570 


a 


a 


dark blue. 



HARDENING AND TEMPERING STEEL TOOLS. 243 

10. 590 degrees Fabr., pale blue. 

11. 610 " " still paler blue. 

12. 630 u " paler blue with tinges of green. 

The tempering colors differ slightly with differ- 
ent qualities of steel, some kinds of which require 
a higher degree of temper or color than others to 
obtain the same degree of hardness ; but a know- 
ledge of this can only be obtained by actual ex- 
periment. In the table given Nos. 1 and 2 are 
used for tools to cut metals ; 3 and 4 are used for 
the same purpose where more elasticity is required ; 
5, G, and 7 are used for tools employed in cutting 
wood ; 8 and 9 for springs, and 10, 11, and 12 are 
too soft for any of the mentioned purposes. Many 
mechanics employ colors or tempers a degree or 
two lower than these mentioned, and use a sort 
of general color for certain kinds of tools, making 
an " average" as to color and quality of steel; 
but with the mechanic who is at all fastidious 
about the temper of his tools or where a very 
particular temper is required, as in gravers, 
chasers, etc., the quality of the steel must be 
taken into consideration, and the hardening and 
tempering intrusted to none except the most ex- 
pert in such operations. 



244 mechanic's tool book. 



TEMPERING STEEL IN THE LEAD BATH. 

Every mechanic accustomed to heating steel 
for hardening in the common forge fire, knows 
how difficult it is to heat evenly any article that 
has a thick and thin portion, so that the thick 
part shall be evenly and thoroughly heated with- 
out overheating the thin part. Now, if the lead 
bath, heated to a proper temperature, be used, 
anything immersed in it, no matter how thin or 
how uneven the thickness, will if sufficient time 
be given be equally heated throughout. 

A cast-iron pan will do to make the receptacle 
of the molten lead of which the bath is composed ; 
but a black-lead crucible is preferable, but it must 
be handled with care to prevent breaking; ves- 
sels made of malleable iron, however, are prefer- 
able to either the cast-iron pan or black-lead 
crucible. To prepare the bath, put the necessary 
quantity of lead in the vessel and bring it to a 
molten state ; continue the heat until it shows a 
blood-red glow. As lead slowly oxydizes at a red 
heat, some precaution may be taken to prevent it, 
and then the loss will be quite small. This pre- 
caution may consist of a plate of iron, say about 



TEMPERING STEEL IN THE LEAD BATH. 245 

one-fourth of an inch in thickness and laid care- 
fully upon the surface of the lead, where it will be 
sustained ; a hole may be made in the iron in 
which the articles may be introduced to reach the 
bath underneath it ; or in place of the iron plate, 
the surface of the bath may be covered with a 
layer of charcoal in the form of dust, or a quantity 
of wood-ashes will answer quite a good purpose. 
The debris and scrapings of the charcoal bin are 
just the material, and the only cost will be the 
trouble of collection from the place of deposit. 

For thin cutting blades, such as razors, surgical 
instruments, springs, etc., this bath is especially 
adapted. The only care required is to keep the 
bath at the proper temperature, and see that the 
articles immersed in it are sufficiently heated. 
From the lead bath they may be chilled in either 
water or oil, as may best suit the purpose for 
which they are intended. 

In some kinds of work it is necessary that one 
end or a certain portion of the article should be 
left soft. This is generally done by only harden- 
ing the part or portion necessary to be tempered, 
but by so doing much risk is accompanied in the 
operation by the article cracking at the water-line 
of the article when immersed, in consequence of 
the sudden contraction of the chilled article. A 
much better way is to temper it without regard to 
the part to be left soft, and then immerse this 
part in the lead bath and draw it, as the term is, 
to the required state. An instance of this appli- 



246 mechanic's tool book. 

cation is the end of steel ram-rods for rifles, 
where the screw is cut for the purpose of screw- 
ing on the wiper with which to clean the rifle. 
The rod is tempered the entire length, and the 
end where the screw is to be cut is immersed in 
the molten lead about the depth of an inch and 
left to cool gradually, and then no trouble is ex- 
perienced in cutting the screw, which otherwise 
would be impossible or attended with the destruc- 
tion of the cutting dies. It is sometimes neces- 
sary to soften portions of hard-drawn brass wire 
or steel wire that is used for springs, and to soften 
the whole spring destroys the necessary elasticity. 
If the ends of the springs are to be bent or 
riveted, the lead bath presents the necessary 
means of softening for that purpose. 

We recollect having seen a process of temper- 
ing the steel springs of crinoline, by first running 
the flattened wire from a reel through the fire, and 
then into a reservoir of oil to harden it, and then 
passing it direct from the oil through a bath of 
molten lead. A reel and winch was the means 
used to draw the spring from the reel on which 
it was wound direct from the rolls through the 
triple baths of fire, oil, and molten lead ; the 
judgment of the operator regulating the heat of 
the necessary fires and reeling it faster or retard- 
ing it as was required for the necessary temper. 



TEMPERING SPRINGS. 247 



TEMPEBING SPKINGS. 

A knowledge of the art of tempering springs 
is of some importance to the mechanic. There is, 
perhaps, no kind of tempering that requires so 
much care in manipulation as getting a good 
spring temper. It is necessary that the spring 
be carefully forged ; not over-heated and not 
hammered too cold. The one is as detrimental as 
the other. To insure a spring that will not warp 
in tempering, it is requisite also that both sides of 
the forging be wrought upon with the hammer ; 
if not, by the compression of the metal on one 
side more than another, it will be sure to warp 
and twist. We will suppose that the article has 
been carefully forged, finished up, and is ready for 
tempering. Clean out the forge and make a brisk 
fire with good clean charcoal, or if bituminous coal 
must be used, see that it is well burned to a coke, 
in order to free it from the sulphur that it con- 
tains, as sulphur will destroy the "life" of the 
metal ; then carefully insert the steel in the fire 
and slowly heat it evenly throughout its entire 
length. Give it time to heat through its thick- 
ness, and when the color shows a light red, plunge 



248 mechanic's tool book. 

it evenly into lukewarm water, or water from 
which the cold chill has been taken off, so as not 
to chill the surface of the metal too quick before 
the inside can also harden, and let it lie in the 
water until it is of the same temperature as the 
water. A much better substitute for water is a good 
quality of animal oil — whale oil or lard oil is best ; 
as a substitute w r e have used lard, by melting it 
before we inserted the heated steel in it. The ad- 
vantage of using oil is that it does not chill the steel 
so suddenly as water, and there is less liability to 
crack it, Eemove the hardened spring from the 
water after it is sufficiently cooled and prepare to 
temper it. To do this make a brisk fire with 
plenty of live coals and then smear the hardened 
spring with tallow and hold it over the coals, but 
do not urge the draught of the fire with the bel- 
lows while so doing ; let the fire heat the steel very 
gradually ; if the spring is long, move it slowly 
over the fire so as to receive the heat equally. In 
a few moments the tallow will melt, then take fire 
and blaze for some time ; while the blaze con- 
tinues, incline the spring or carefully elevate 
either end, so that the blaze will freely circulate 
from end to end and completely envelope it. The 
blaze will soon die out ; then smear it again with 
tallow and blaze it off as before. If the spring 
is to be subjected to a great strain, or it will be 
required to perform much labor, it may be lightly 
blazed off a third time, and if it is to be exposed 
to the vicissitudes of heat and coW it must be left 



TEMPERING SPRINGS. 249 

to cool of itself upon a corner of the forge, and 
not cooled by putting in water or throwing it on 
the ground. 

Spiral springs of steel wire such as are used for 
spring balances, are tempered by heating them in 
a close vessel with animal charcoal or with bone- 
dust packed around them, similar to the process 
of case-hardening ; and when thoroughly heated, 
cool them in a bath of oil and proceed to temper 
them by putting a handful of them in a sheet-iron 
pan, with tallow or oil, and agitate them over a 
brisk fire. The tallow will soon blaze and the 
agitation will cause them to heat very evenly. 
The steel springs for fire-arms are tempered in 
this manner, and may be said to be literally " fried 
in oil." If a long slender spring is needed that 
requires a low temper, it can be made by simply 
beating the soft forging on a smooth anvil with a 
smooth-face hammer. By this means the metal 
will be sufficiently compressed to form a very good 
spring without further tempering. Use a light 
hammer in the process and " many blows," and a 
spring will be made that will last for a long time, 
especially if it has to bear no great portion of 
labor in its action. 



250 mechanic's tool book. 



DAMASCUS STEEL. 

When cutlery, swords, gun-barrels, etc., present 
a variegated or watery appearance, as of white, 
silvery, or black lines, crossing, interlaced, or run- 
ning parallel with each other, they are called 
"damascus" or "damaskened," and the term is 
equally applicable to iron or steel when present- 
ing this appearance. 

The derivation of the term is from the city of 
Damascus, in Syria, where swords of a superior 
quality and presenting the variegated appearance 
above-mentioned were formerly manufactured, 
and the modern term " Damascus" is now applied 
to metals so united as to form imitations of the 
genuine Damascus manufacture. At the present 
day the art of thus uniting the metals or imitating 
them is almost exclusively confined to the manu- 
facture of smooth-bored gun-barrels for the use 
of the sportsman. The genuine Damascus is 
supposed to be a highly carbureted steel, which 
by cooling, a division of two carburets takes place, 
and the separation is clearly visible when the sur- 
face is corroded by the acids, as the parts acted 
upon by the acids are deepened and dyed by the 



DAMASCUS STEEL. 251 

exposure of their carbon. The damask of com- 
merce is but an imitation of the genuine, and 
one method of so doing has been to smelt soft 
iron with charcoal, tungstate of iron, nickel, and 
manganese. If fifty parts of iron and one part 
of lainp-black be smelted together, it will also pro- 
duce a good imitation. If iron folates of different 
natures, or hard and soft iron, be smelted to- 
gether, it will also produce a damask. If oxydized 
iron tilings and iron are smelted a beautiful da- 
mask is the result. The gun-barrels of commerce 
are made from a mixture of stub nails and clip- 
pings of steel of any proportions to suit the fancy 
of the workman ; the mass is puddled together, 
made into a bloom, and submitted to the neces- 
sary process of manufacture. Sometimes bars of 
iron and steel are piled in alternate layers and 
welded together, and after the mass is drawn out 
it is twisted, doubled and twisted, then welded 
and drawn out again. When it is to be formed 
into a gun-barrel, it is drawn into a thin ribbon 
of an inch or tw r o in width, which is coiled spirally 
around an iron rod and carefully welded, the rod 
being withdrawn when the weld is complete. By 
a close examination of a Damascus or twisted 
gun-barrel these spiral weldings will be observed. 
There are many imitations of the Damascus 
which are the result of corrosion or coloring with 
acids. One method is to partly cover the barrel, 
after it is brightened up, with twine wound in a 
spiral direction and then wet it with acids. The 



252 mechanic's tool book. 

exposed portions of the barrel will become oxydized 
and the polished portions protected by the twine 
will remain bright. Another method is to cover the 
barrel with a thin coating of wax, and with the 
point of a graver cut through the wax -so as to ex- 
pose the bright surface of the metal and then sub- 
mit it to the action of the acids as before ; when the 
exposed portion is sufficiently oxydized the wax is 
removed and the barrel finished up. By this 
last process names or designs can be made upon 
tools that are polished, and it is often done by 
mechanics to prevent the loss of their tools, by 
their being taken by other workmen by mistake, 
or to recognize them if lost. The cylinders of 
pistols were at one time etched or engraved in 
this way ; but in later years this ornamentation 
of cylinders has been produced from an engraved 
cylinder mounted in a frame ; the cylinder of the 
fire-arm being rolled in close contact with the en- 
graved one. By this means a transfer of the 
engraved picture or design is produced. 



CASE-HARDENING. 253 



" CASE-HARDENING." 

Case-hardening is the superficial conversion 
of iron into steel, and combining the hardness of 
the latter with the toughness and cheapness of 
the former. Iron is tenacious and ducile, but by 
case-hardening it has this same tenacious body 
with an exterior coating of steel, produced by the 
action of heat and animal carbons, shrunk, as it 
were, over its surface, compressing the iron body, 
thereby producing a greater strength. It is not 
for economy alone that articles of iron are case- 
hardened. They are stronger and more durable 
than if made wholly of steel. 

The most common articles of case-hardening 
that are met with are the locks, mountings, etc., 
of guns and rifles. To make the lock-plates and 
hammers of steel would be attended with many 
disadvantages as well as an advanced cost, not 
only the price of steel over that of iron, but the 
difficulty of working requiring more care and 
more experienced workmanship. If these parts 
were made of steel they would require to be hard- 
ened, and, as steel can only be hardened throughout 
its entire thickness, there would be great risk of 



254 mechanic's tool book. 

breakage from accidental blows and changes of 
atmosphere. But being made of iron and case- 
hardened, it has the tenacity of the iron and hard- 
ness of tempered steel ; the steel surface extending 
to a greater or less depth according to the time it 
remains in the hardening material. 

Oast-iron is as easily case hardened as wrought- 
iron, and drill-chucks or face-plates thus treated 
are rendered of as much utility as if made of tem- 
pered steel, and at' scarcely one-tenth the cost. 
Malleable iron has also the same properties of 
case-hardening that wrought-iron has, and the 
greater portion of gun and rifle trimmings are 
thus made and case-hardened. 

Prussiate of potash answers a very good purpose 
for superficial case-hardening, but it produces only 
a thin film or skin of hardened surface. Any ani- 
mal charcoal will answer. Burnt horns, hoofs, 
bones, etc., will make animal charcoal. Scraps of 
leather, old boots and shoes, burned in a pan in 
the common forge of lire and reduced to a powder 
in a mortar with an iron pestel are a ready means 
for preparing this carbon. Ground bone-dust as 
it comes from the agricultural stores is the most 
ready as well as the cleanest form of material. 
The bone or ivory dust does not need burning. 
The articles to be hardened are put in iron boxes 
and the bone-dust well packed around them. Care 
should be taken that the articles do not touch 
each other. The box must be tightly closed, luted 
with clay, inserted in the fire, and brought gently 



CASE HARDENING. 255 

to a red heat. If the articles are large they re- 
quire more time than if they were small or thin. 
After the box becomes hot, it will require to re- 
main from half an hour to two or three hours, the 
mechanic exercising his own judgment as to time 
in the size of the articles. When properly heated, 
draw from the fire and quickly empty the contents 
into a bucket of moderately cold water, taking 
care that the work comes to the air as little as 
possible. 

A very good substitute for iron boxes are short 
pieces of gas-pipe, with a plug screwed into one 
end and the other end covered with an iron cap 
and luted with clay so as to be air-tight. When 
the articles can be conveniently packed in pieces 
of pipe they are preferable to iron boxes for the 
reason that they are more readily turned in the 
fire and are more easy to handle. After the work 
is hardened, if it is required to polish it, proceed 
the same as with iron on steel. When the work 
is polished or burnished before it is case-hardened 
it will, after the operation is completed, present a 
variety of mottled tints that are pleasing to the 
eye. Many prefer the work left in this condition, 
as it will not rust so readily as if polished. 

If a portion of an article is to be kept in a soft 
state and the remaining part to be case-hardened, 
the portion to be left soft can be covered with a 
thick coat of moist clay, so as to prevent the mate- 
rial in which it is packed from coming in contact 
with it. If there is thought to be danger of small 



256 mechanic's tool book. 

articles cracking by the immersion of them in the 
water, a film of oil poured on the water, which 
must not be too cold, will prevent a too sudden 
contraction of the metal and the articles will not 
crack. 



BOLT NUTS. 257 



BOLT NUTS. 

In purchasing bolt nuts, as they are usually kept 
for sale at the hardware-stores, we find them made 
from two kinds of iron, called wrought and malle- 
able. The former is the usual wrought-iron, as its 
name indicates, and the latter is cast in sand-molds 
and afterwards made malleable by heat. Of the 
nuts made from wrought-iron there are two varie- 
ties, one of which is made by the process of cold 
punching and the other by the usual process of 
heating and forging. 

If we examine either of these kinds of nuts, we 
find them left with a rough and unsightly exterior, 
and in order to have them present the same ap- 
pearance as finished work, which they must ac- 
company, some labor and skill must be applied, 
by filing or other means, to give them an exterior 
at all compatible with their position upon nice 
work. In fact, to finish up a nut with the file so 
that it will present a good exterior requires some 
practice and skill. The sides of the nut must be 
made true, and the angles, let them be square or 
hexagonal, must be of equal proportions and have 
the same appearance. The top of the nut ought 



258 mechanic's tool book. 

to be made convex in form, and this is best accom- 
plished by so turning it in the lathe. If a sharp 
turning tool be used and a few drops of water be 
used to lubricate it, a nice and glistening surface 
can be produced which is very pleasing to the 
eye. No better means than this can be applied 
to finish this convex surface. 

As a substitute for filing up the sides of nuts, 
we would recommend the application of the mill- 
ing machine to reduce the rough surface, and then 
finish with the file or polish-wheel, as may be de- 
sired. As a substitute for the milling machine, 
some appropriate fixture may be attached to the 
lathe which would effect the same purpose. By 
means of two cutters revolving upon the same 
spindle, the two opposite sides of square or hexag- 
onal nuts can be cut at the same time, then by 
once turning the nut and cutting again finishes 
the square nut, and two turns and two cuts com- 
plete the hexagonal. By thus placing the nuts 
upon a stud and so reducing them, their opposite 
sides will be equi-distant and parallel. A very 
small amount of filing will then suffice to form 
them into well-finished nuts. We have often 
thought that nuts finished in this way might be a 
profitable article of commerce. And where the 
business is made a specialty and the milling ma- 
chine or other tools employed, they can be pro- 
duced with rapidity and quite cheaply. 

Another improvement might be added, espec- 
ially upon the forged and cut nuts, and that is to 



BOLT NUTS. 259 

remove the inner surface of the hole in which the 
screw is to be cut by means of reamers, before the 
screw is made. The rough scale of the forged 
nuts and the vitreous sand adhering to the cast 
nut are fatal to the cutting-edges of screw-taps if 
they be not removed ; but this precaution is not 
often attended to by mechanics. If bolt nuts, 
with these operations performed, were presented 
in the market, they would be acceptable to the 
majority of mechanics, who could only so finish 
them at some expense. 



260 mechanic's tool book. 



THE FOEM OF BOLT NUTS. 

It is but a few years since that all bolt nuts 
were made by hand, as they were needed, by the 
blacksmith, and his tools for making these nuts 
consisted of no other, excepting the forge, bellows, 
and anvil, than his hammer as a means of force, a 
punch to form the necessary hole through the nut, 
and a chisel with which to cut the nut from the 
bar of iron from which it was made. The making 
of these nuts was very primitive indeed. A bar 
of iron of the diameter and width of the nnt was 
selected, inserted in the fire and heated, the 
punch driven through at the required distance 
from the end of the bar the necessary length to 
form the nut cut off, which was again inserted in 
the fire and heated, and was finished by hammering 
it into a square form, the punch being inserted in 
the hole of the nut as a means of holding it and 
to keep the hole of the proper form. 

The square form of the nut was selected as the 
most ready to make and the easiest to be operated 
upon by the rude wrenches of that period. The 
beauty of the proportion of the hexagonal nut 
might at times be seen and admired, but it was of 



THE FORM OF BOLT NUTS. 261 

too difficult a construction to be often attempted 
with those rude tools and appliances, and if so 
made, was liable to have its corners abraded by 
ill-fitting wrenches. Therefore the square nut was 
the very best form then to make. 

But after a time, as beauty of form is demanded, 
the uncouth proportions of the square nut are 
noticed, and its superfluous, projecting corners 
are rejected, and the hexagonal form usurps its 
place. The metal which is useless in the square 
nut is added to the sides of the hexagonal, and 
with this more equal distribution a much stronger 
nut is obtained with the same weight of metal, as 
the weak places of the square nut are the spaces 
midway between the corners or angles. The greater 
number of angles the nearer the nut approaches 
to a circle, and of course attains a greater 
strength ; then why may we not discard the an- 
gles altogether and form the nuts either round or 
cylindrical ! A few years ago we had no wrenches 
to turn such a shaped nut, but now mechanical 
ingenuity has given us a score or more of tools 
adapted to this very end, which tools are in con- 
stant use for operating upon round rods and 
pipes, and certainly they will be as effectual in turn- 
ing a cylindrical nut as in turning a gas-pipe. The 
greater strength of the cylindrical form would 
seem to favor its adoption, and it can be finished 
so as to present as neat an appearance as the 
hexagonal form of nut. 

But with the adoption of the hexagonal form, 



262 mechanic's tool book. 

new means must be brought into requisition for 
their ready manufacture, and the punch and die, 
in connection with the power press is employed, 
and the product of nuts is so much cheapened 
that it is useless for the blacksmith with forge 
and anvil to contend with it, as the press will 
form a hundred nuts of better form and shape 
than the single one made by the smith in the 
same amount of time. 

We see, then, how the business of nut manu- 
facture can be made a specialty, and how, by the 
manufacturer devoting his time and capital to it, 
a better article can be produced at a cheaper rate 
than that first formed by manual labor. 



BOLT-HEADS AND NUTS. 263 



BOLTJEEADS AND NUTS. 

With the adoption of the hexagonal form of 
bolt-head and a nut of corresponding shape began 
the era of beauty in the form of, these necessary 
portions of the bolt. While the square form of 
head and nut was in vogue, probably no portion 
of any mechanical appliance received at the hands 
of the makers such indefinite and varying propor- 
tions. In those days the smith or other mechanic 
made the bolts as they were required, and, cutting 
off an indefinite length of iron, he measured the 
length of bolt, and then fashioned the head from 
the excess over the required length. Instead of 
the thickness of the head being nearly that of the 
bolt, we notice that it was sometimes one-half 
and even less that thickness, and the nuts fitted 
to these bolts were of similar varying proportions. 

That there exists a relationship between the ten 
sile strength of the bolt and the thickness and di- 
ameter of the head, all mechanics will admit, and 
in this relationship the forms of beauty must also 
exist. A round bolt-head has a beauty of form 
greater than that of the square one ; but as a diffi- 
culty exists in turning the round form of head or 



264 mechanic's tool book. 

nut with any of the wrenches now in use, the 
nearest approach to the circle which obviates this 
difficulty, viz., the hexagonal form, has been 
adopted, as combining all that is essential as re- 
gards both strength and beauty. 

Prior to the introduction of the improved 
wrenches now presented for service, the square 
head or nut was needed to enable it to be turned 
with the rude appliances used for that purpose 
not many years ago. With better made wrenches, 
which were adjustable yet unyielding in their ap- 
plication, a less angle of the bolt-head or nut was 
required, and the hexagonal form was adopted, 
and with this form comes a system as regards their 
diameter and thickness which good mechanics ob- 
serve, yet many seem disposed to wholly ignore. 

We will take the quarter-inch bolt, as a bolt of 
this diameter of body is designated, and the 
thickness of nut and head made of hexangonal 
form should both be the same as the said diameter, 
and the width over the sides three-eighths of an 
inch. A half-inch bolt should have its nut of the 
same thickness as its body ; but its head may be 
a little thinner, say about one-sixteenth, and the 
width over sides three-quarters of an inch. With 
the exception of the thickness of the head, it 
should have twice the measurement of the quarter- 
inch bolt-head and nut. The three-quarter inch 
bolt should have three times the measurement of 
the quarter-inch, and the inch bolt four times 
those measurements, except in the thickness of 



BOLT-HEADS AND NUTS. 265 

the heads, which may be diminished relatively as 
the sizes increase. The intermediate sizes vary 
somewhat from these, accordingly as they increase 
or decrease. It may be received as a rule that 
the width of a nut, when measured over the sides, 
should be one-half more than the diameter of the 
bolt. 

The following table may be taken as a sufficiently 
correct guide for all practical purposes by those 
who would make hexagonal bolt-heads and nuts 
of a uniform size, and of proportions to corres- 
pond to the tensile strength of the bolt : — 



meter of bolt 


Width of nut 


Thickness of 


Thickness of 


in inches. 


over sides. 


head. 


nut. 


* 


f 


i 


£ 


A 


A 


A 


A 


t 


A 


A 


t 


A 


1 


A 


A 


I 


f 


A 


i 


A 


* 


* 


A 


f 


l 


* 


f 


f 


iA 


f 


f 


* 


iA 


1 


t 


1. 


i* 


* 


l 


n 


n 


l 


i* 


n 


H 


if 


i* 


if 


2f 


if 


if 


2 


3 


if 


2 



266 mechanic's tool book. 



DIPPING ACID FOE BEASS. 

There are various methods of finishing brass, 
as by turning and polishing in the lathe, finishing 
with the file and burnisher, or covering with a coat 
of colored lacquer, or immersing it in a bath of 
acid. Oftentimes portion of brass which we wish 
to ornament cannot be finished in the lathe or will 
not pay the cost of hand-finishing ; we may cast 
such portions of the required form at once, and 
then produce a beautiful surface most ingeniously 
and cheaply by immersing it in a bath of "dip- 
ping acid." This bath is made by mixing to- 
gether nitric acid, sulphuric acid, and muriate of 
ammonia or sal-ammoniac. The work, if it has 
been in contact with oil or grease, may be heated 
to consume such grease, and it will then be dis 
colored and dirty ; it must be pickled in a bath of 
diluted nitric acid, which may be one part acid to 
three or four water. The articles must not be 
permitted to remain too long in the pickle, as 
injury will result by the acid eating holes in the 
work ; to clean the surface of the metal is all that 
is required. Eemove the articles from the pickle 
and wash them clean, so as to alike remove any 



DIPPING ACID FOR BRASS. 267 

adhering dirt and the acid in which it has been 
immersed. The dipping bath is composed mostly 
of nitric acid, the sulphuric acid and the muriate 
of ammonia being present in inferior quantities. 
There is no certain rule by which to mix them. 
Much depends on the concentrated character of 
the acids. A little experience will enable the 
operator to judge for himself of the proportions 
he needs. Strong nitric acid alone will do, but 
many prefer to add a quantity of the other ingre- 
dients. The mixture should be so strong that 
a momentary immersion will be sufficient to make 
the work bright and clear, no matter how rough it 
may have been. Eemove the work from the bath 
and immediately plunge it in clean cold water and 
wash it well to remove the acid, and give it a final 
and thorough washing in hot water. If a little 
crude tartar be added to the hot water it will more 
effectually remove the acid. To dry the work it 
may be embedded in fine hot saw-dust. 

The surface produced is beautiful and may be 
protected with a coat of clear varnish or lac- 
quer, but without the lacquer the surface will 
be retained for a long time and withstand consid- 
erable wear and handling. 



268 mechanic's tool book, 



PRESEKVATION OF METALLIC SUR- 
FACES. 

The great tendency of sheet-iion to decay by 
oxydation lias led to the employment of many 
methods of preventing it. The first and most 
natural of these seems to be a coating of some 
substance, and paint or oleaginous varnish has 
been much employed. This is often employed 
where the exposure of the natural color of the 
iron is of no account, or where there is no desire 
to conceal the material of which the work to be 
preserved is made. Asphaltum and black varn- 
ishes are largely employed in many places, and a 
surface thus protected is susceptible of being 
gilded and elaborately finished, after the manner 
of the small signs, tea-waiters, coffee cans, etc., 
we so often see. Coating the sheet metal by im- 
mersion in a bath of melted tin is adopted, and it 
is the most common and perhaps the best protec- 
tion that sheet-iron can have. A familiar illustra- 
tion is the numerous articles of household use 
that are so very common. There is a process 
called galvanizing (but the term is not correctly 
applied, as the process is not completed by the 
galvanic current) that is common in some places. 



PRESERVATION OF METALLIC SURFACES. 269 

It consists in coating the iron by immersion in 
melted zinc, after the manner of coating the iron 
with tin. Articles of cast or malleable iron that 
are exposed to damp or are used when immersed 
in water are coated in this way with beneficial 
results. An example is seen in the iron fixtures 
of dairy churns, family washing machines, wring- 
ers, etc. There is also a process of enameling 
that has been somewhat used ; the article is dipped 
in a gummy fluid and the gloss or enamel, reduced 
by pulverization or grinding to a granulous pow- 
der, is dusted upon the gummy surface, where it 
adheres ; the article is then put into a muffle and 
placed in a furnace, and after a few minutes' ex 
posure to the heat the powder fuses into a uniform 
glossy coating, affording a good protection to the 
article so covered. The enamel kettles and stew- 
pans used by the housewife for boiling and cook- 
ing acid fruits are made after this process. It is 
capable of a more extended application than has 
been made of it. To coat the sheets of iron with 
either the tin, zinc, or enamel, it is immersed in 
sulphuric or muriatic acid for a sufficient time to 
clean them of the scale of oxyd by which they are 
covered ; they are then carefully washed clean, 
dipped in a solution of muriate of zinc, and then 
immersed in a bath of tin or zinc, a thin coating 
of which immediately adheres to the surface. 

By means of the electro-deposit process sheet 
metal may be coated with gold, silver, or copper, 
but this process is used most upon articles of orna- 



270 mechanic's tool book. * 

ment and is intended to hide the metal of which 
they are formed. As the process is quite cheap 
when but a light coating of the metal is employed, 
it is extensively used, the material of which the 
articles are made being principally sheet-brass or 
of soft metal. 



MOTHER-OF-PEARL. 271 






MOTHEB-OF-PEABL. 

Mother-of-pearl is the inner coat or layer of 
several kinds of oyster shells, some of which se- 
crete this layer of sufficient thickness to render 
the shell an object of manufacture. The beauti- 
ful tints of the layer depend upon its structure, 
the surface being covered with a multitude of min- 
ute grooves, which decompose and reflect the 
light. These grooves are often so minute that 
more than three thousand of them are contained 
in an inch. 

The lammelar structure of the pearl shell admits 
of its being split into laminae, and it can then be. 
used for the handles of knives, for inlaying the 
manufacture of buttons, etc. ; but as splitting is 
liable to injure or spoil the shell, this method of 
dividing it is seldom resorted to. Tn manufacture 
the different parts are selected of a thickness as 
nearly as possible to suit the required purpose, 
and this excess of thickness is got rid of by means 
of saws, filing, or by grinding upon the common 
grind-stone. In preparing the rough shell, if 
square or angular pieces are needed, they are cut 
with saws, as the circular saw or the ordinary back 



272 MECHANIC^ TOOL BOOK. 

saw ; in the one case, the shell is fed up as the 
saw divides it, and in the other the shell is held 
in a vise, and the saw operated by hand. If cir- 
cular pieces of the shell are wanted, such as those* 
for buttons, etc., they are cut with an annular or 
crown saw, which is fixed upon a mandrel. It is 
necessary in sawing that water be plentifully sup- 
plied to the instrument, or the heat generated by 
dividing the shell will heat the saw, and its tem- 
per will be destroyed. The pieces of shell are 
next ground flat upon a grindstone, the edge of 
which is turned with a number of grooves or 
ridges, as being less liable to become clogged 
than the entire surface, and hence grind more 
quickly. It is necessary that water be supplied 
to the stone, but if soap and water be employed, 
the stone is less liable to become clogged. The 
flat side of the stone, similarly prepared with 
ridges, may be used instead of the face, if it be 
desired to have the pieces of shell ground flat, 
and when of the requisite thinness they are ready 
for operation in the lathe, for inlaying, etc. 

After the pieces of pearl shell are cut, ground, 
or turned to the proper form, they are finished 
with pumice-stone and water ; this may be done 
with pieces of the stone properly shaped, and 
rubbed over the work as it is held fast in some 
form of clamp, or held upon the work as it is re- 
volved in the lathe. This process may be followed 
by an application of ground pumice-stone, which 
has been carefully sifted to extract all except the 



MOTIIER-OF-PEARL. 273 

minutely powdered portion, and applied with a 
piece of cork or a cloth moistened with water. 
The polishing is accomplished with rotten-stone, 
moistened with dilute sulphuric acid, which may 
be applied upon a piece of cork or a bit of soft 
wood. The acid tends to develop finely the 
striated structure of the shell. In some turned 
works fine emery paper may be used, and followed 
with rotten-stone moistened with the acid, or 
some limpid oil instead. 

The pearl handles used for razors dr knives are 
first roughed out, then drilled where the rivets are 
to be inserted, and then lightly riveted together 
in pairs. They are then ground to the proper size 
and thickness, and finished by the means men- 
tioned. The last finishing touch, to produce a 
fine polish, often being done by the friction of the 
hand of the workman. 

Sometimes it is advantageous to apply the pol- 
ishing material to the surface of a wheel, and this 
wheel may be covered with cloth and moistened 
with water, which will cause enough of the powder 
to adhere. Separate wheels may be used for the 
pumice-stone and the rotten-stone. Sometimes 
dry powdered chalk or Spanish whiting is used in 
place of the rotten-stone. 

One process of working pearl is similar to that of 
engraving in metals in relief, by the aid of corro- 
sive acids and the etching point. The shell is first 
divided as may be necessary, and the designs or 
patterns drawn upon it with an opaque varnish ; 



274 MECHANIC'S TOOL BOOK. 

strong nitric acid is then brushed over the plates 
repeatedly, until the parts untouched or unde- 
fended by the varnish are sufficiently corroded or 
eaten away by the acid. The varnish now being 
washed off, the device, which the acid has not 
touched, is found to be nicely executed. If the 
design is to be after the manner of common etch- 
ing on copper, the process upon the shell is pre- 
cisely the same as that process upon metal. 

When a considerable number of pieces of thin 
shell are required to be of the same size and pat- 
tern, the requisite number of plates are cemented 
together with glue, and the device or figure drawn 
upon the outer plate. They may then be held in 
a vise or clamp, and cut out as one plate with a 
fine saw, or wrought into the desired form with 
files ; drilling tools may be employed to assist in 
the operation. To separate the pieces, the ce- 
mented shells are thrown into warm water, which 
softens the glue and separates the pieces. 



PEARL INLAYING. 275 



PEARL INLAYING. 

The manufacture of pearl-inlaid or japanned ar- 
ticles is now quite common. A few years ago 
articles of this description were wholly imported 
from China to France and England, and then 
again imported to the United States, where they 
were sold at exorbitant prices. The prices at 
which these articles are now sold is so reasonable 
as to be within the reach of every one, and every 
common laborer can deck his little cottage with a 
beautiful clock inlaid or ornamented, or furnish 
his wife with a tea-tray or work-box of the same 
description. 

Oast and sheet iron and papier-mache are the 
materials upon which pearl is generally inlaid. 
The process is as follows : — If the article be of 
cast-iron, it is well cleaned from the sand which 
usually adheres to the casting, and is blackened 
with a coat of varnish and lamp-black. When 
this is thoroughly dried, a coat of japan or black 
varnish is spread evenly upon it. Before the 
varnish becomes too dry, pieces of pearl cut in 
the form of leaves, roses, or such flowers as the 
fancy of the artist may dictate, or the character 



276 mechanic's tool book. 

of the article may require, are laid upon the varn- 
ish, and pressed down with the finger, and they 
immediately adhere to the varnished surface. 
The work is then placed in a heated oven and 
kept there for several hours, or until the varnish 
is perfectly dried. It is then taken from the oven 
and another coat of varnish applied indiscriminate- 
ly on the surface of the pearl and the previous coat- 
ing, and again placed in the oven till dry. This 
process is repeated several times. The varnish is 
then scraped off the pearl with a knife, and the 
surface of pearl and the varnish around it is found 
to be quite even. The pearl is then polished with 
a piece of pumice stone and water, and the surface 
of the varnish is rubbed smooth with powdered 
pumice stone, moistened with water. 

It is in this unfinished state that the pearl has 
the appearance of being inlaid, and from which it 
derives its name. Its final beauty and finish de- 
pends altogether on the skill of the artist who now 
receives it. Under his hands, the shapeless and 
almost unmeaning pieces of pearl are made to as- 
sume beautiful flowers, leaves, etc. The artist 
traces the stems and leaves of the flowers with a 
camel's hair pencil, dipped in a size made of varn- 
ish and turpentine ; upon this he lays gold leaf, 
which adheres where there is size, and the super- 
fluous gold is carefully brushed off with a piec*e of 
$ilk. The flowers and leaves are then painted 
ill OQlQrs ? and when dry the picture and surface of 



PEARL INLAYING. 277 

the article is covered with a coat of refined white 
varnish. 

The kinds of pearl used are three : — mother-of- 
pearl or the pearl oyster, or white pearl, as it is 
called by the artist, and it is known by its clear 
white surface ; aurora shell, which can readily be 
told by its wrinkled appearance and its various 
prismatic colors, and is made from the shell of the 
genus of mollusca known as the sea-ear or ear- 
shell, and known to the conchologist as haliotis ; 
the green snail shell, which can be told by its 
glistening colors of light and dark green, a soft 
yellow, and a bright and beautiful pink, blended 
together. 

To manufacture the pearl ready for inlaying, 
the workman cuts the rough shells in pieces with 
saws and then grinds the pieces upon both sides 
upon a common grindstone until they are of the 
requisite thinness. Out of these pieces the artist 
cuts the forms of leaves, flowers, etc., with a pair 
of common scissors preparatory to placing them on 
the varnished surface. The necessary forms may be 
cut from the thin pieces of pearl by means of a 
punch and dies with power applied by the foot 
of the operator. When a number of pieces are re- 
quired to be of the same size the pieces may be 
fastened together with glue as one solid plate, 
and then the required form marked upon the out * 
side one, then these being held in a vise the form 
can be carefully sawed out with a fine saw ; by 
placing the cemented pieces in warm water the 



278 mechanic's tool book. 

glue softens and the shells are easily separated 
and the glue washed off. 

This art of inlaying is not confined to the rep- 
resentations of flowers alone; landscapes with 
houses, castles, trees, churches, and bridges are 
very easily made, and when represented as being 
seen by moonlight are very beautiful. The rising 
moon can be represented surrounded by clouds of 
gold and silver bronze, and when pieces of pearl are 
placed in certain positions to reflect their colors, 
the moonbeams are represented as glancing over 
the landscape in alternate light and shadow. 

A varnished surface can be ornamented by 
transferring drawings or engravings to it and the 
process is quite simple. A thin coat of copal 
varnish is spread upon the surface of the article, 
and when nearly dry the engraving is applied with 
its face downward and carefully pressed to exclude 
all air-bubbles. When the varnish is sufficiently 
dry the paper is thoroughly moistened with a 
sponge dipped in warm water and the paper can 
be rubbed off, leaving all the lines of the print 
upon the varnished surface. 



THE EKD. 



D. VAN NOSTRAND S PUBLICATIONS. 



ABBOT (H. L.) Siege Artillery in the Campaign against 
Richmond, with Notes on the 15-inch Gun, including 
an Algebraic Analysis of the Trajectory of a Shot in its 
ricochet upon smooth water. Illustrated with detailed 
drawings of the U. S. and Confederate rifled projectiles. 
By Henry L. Abbot, Maj. of Engineers, and Bvt. Maj.- 
General U. S. Vols., commanding Siege Artillery, 
Armies before Richmond. Paper No. 14, Professional 

Papers, Corps of Engineers. 1 vol. 8vo, cloth $3 . 50 

ALEXANDER (J. H.) Universal Dictionary of Weights 
and Measures, Ancient and Modern, reduced to the 
standards of the United States of America. By J. H. 
Alexander. New edition, enlarged. 1 vol. 8vo, cloth. 3.50 
BENET (S. V.) Electro-Ballistic Machines, and the Schultz 
Chronoscope. By Brevet Lieut.-Colonel S. V. Benet. 

1 vol. 4to, illustrated, cloth 4.00 

BROOKLYN WATER WORKS. Containing a Descrip- 
tive Account of the Construction of the Works, and 
also Reports on the Brooklyn, Hartford, Belleville, and 
Cambridge Pumping Engines With illustrations. I 

vol. folio, cloth 1 5 . 00 

BURGH (N. P.) Modern Marine Engineering, applied to 
Paddle and Screw Propulsion. Consisting of 36 colored 
plates, 259 Practical Woodcut Illustrations, and 403 
pages of Descriptive Matter, the whole being an ex- 
position of the present practice of the following firms : 
Messrs. J. Penn & Sons ; Messrs. Maudslay, Sons &• 
Field; Messrs. James Watt & Co.; Messrs. J. & G. 
Rennie ; Messrs. R. Napier & Sons ; Messrs. J. & W. 
Dudgeon ; Messrs. Ravenhill & Hodgson ; Messrs. 
Humphreys & Tenant ; Mr. J, T. Spencer, and Messrs. 
Forrester & Co. By N. P. Burgh, Engineer. In 1 thick 

vol. 4to, cloth 30 . 00 

Do. do. half morocco 35 .00 

1 



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CAMPIN on the Construction of Iron Roofs. By Francis 

Campin. 8vo. with plates, cloth $3 .00 

CHAUVENET (Prof. Wm.) New Method of Correcting 
Lunar Distances, and Improved Method of Finding the 
Error and Rate of a Chronometer, by equal altitudes. 
By Wm. Chauvenet, LL. D. 1 vol. 8vo, cloth 2.00 

CLOUGH (A. B.) Contractors' Manual and Builders' Price- 
Book. By A. B. Clough, Architect. 1 vol. i8mo, 
cloth 75 

COLBURN (Zerah). Engineering— an Illustrated Weekly 
Journal, conducted by Zerah Colburn, London. 32 
pages folio. Is promptly received here by weekly 
steamers. Price, per annum 10.00 

"This is the ablest Engineering paper published, and is edited by one of the best 
known scientific men of the day. It is finely and profusely illustrated, and printed in the 
best manner. " 

COLBURN. The Gas Works of London. By Zerah Col- 
burn, C. E. 1 vol. i2mo, boards 75 

CRAIG (B. F.) Weights and Measures. An Account of 
the Decimal System, with Tables of Conversion for 
Commercial and Scientific Uses. By B, F. Craig, M. 

D. 1 vol. square 32mo, limp cloth 50 

" The most lucid, accurate, and useful of all the hand-books on this subject that we 
have yet seen. It gives forty-seven tables of comparison between the English and 
French denominations of length, area, capacity, weight, and the centigrade and Fahren- 
heit thermometers, with clear instructions how to use them ; and to this practical por- 
tion, which helps to make the transition as easy as possible, is prefixed a scientific ex- 
planation of the errors in the metric system, and how they may be corrected in the 
laboratory. ' '—Nation. 

FRANCIS. Lowell Hydraulic Experiments, being a selec- 
tion from Experiments on Hydraulic Motors, on the 
Flow of Water over Wiers, in Open Canals of Uniform 
Rectangular Section, and through submerged Orifices 
and diverging Tubes. Made at Lowell, Massachusetts. 
By James B. Francis, C. E. 2d edition, revised and 
enlarged, with many new experiments, and illustrated 
with twenty-three copperplate engravings. 1 vol. 4to, 

cloth 1 5 .00 

2 



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FRANCIS. On the Strength of Cast-iron Pillars,with Tables 

for the use of Engineers, Architects, and Builders. By 

James B. Francis, Civil Engineer, l vol. 8vo, cloth. . $2.00 

"A scientific treatise of inestimable value to those for whom it is intended." — Boston 
Daily Advertiser. 

GILLMOKE (Gen. Q^A.) Treatise on Limes, Hydraulic 
Cements, and Mortars. Papers on Practical Engineer- 
ing, U. S. Engineer Department, No. 9, containing 
Reports of numerous Experiments conducted in New 
York City, during the years 1858 to 1861, inclusive. 
By Q^'A. Gillmore, Bvt. Maj.-Gen , U. S. A., Major, 
Corps U. S. Engineers. With numerous illustrations. 
1 vol. 8 vo, cloth 4 . 00 

" This work contains a record of certain experiments and researches made under the 
authority of the Engineer Bureau of the War Department from 1858 to 1861, upon the va- 
rious hydraulic cements of the United States, and the materials for their manufacture. 
The experiments were carefully made, and are well reported and compiled." — Journal 
Franklin Institute, 

HARRISON. The Mechanics' Tool Book, with Practical 
Rules and Suggestions for Use of Machinists, Iron 
Workers, and others. By W. B. Harrison, associate 
editor of the " American Artisan." Illustrated with 44 
engravings. 1 2mo, cloth 2.50 

HEN MCI (Olaus). Skeleton Structures, especially in their 
application to the Building of Steel and Iron Bridges. 
By Olaus Henrici. With folding plates and diagrams. 
1 vol. 8vo, cloth 3 . 00 

HEWSON (Wm.) Principles and Practice of Embanking 
Lands from River Floods, as applied to the Levees of 
the Mississippi. By William Hewson, Civil Engineer. 
1 vol. 8vo, cloth 2 . 00 

*' This is a valuable treatise on the principles and practice of embanking lands from 
river floods, as applied to Levees of the Mississippi, by a highly intelligent and experi- 
enced engineer. The author says it is a first attempt to reduce to order and to rule the 
design, execution, and measurement of the Levees of the Mississippi. It is a most useful 
and needed contribution to scientific literature."— Philadelphia Evening Journal, 

3 



D. VAN NOSTEAND'S PUBLICATIONS. 



HOLLEY (A. L.) Railway Practice. American and Euro- 
pean Railway Practice, in the economical Generation of 
Steam, including the Materials and Construction of Coal- 
burning Boilers, Combustion, the Variable Blast, Va- 
porization, Circulation, Superheating, Supplying and 
Heating Feed-water, &c, and the Adaptation of Wood 
and Coke-burning Engines to Coal-burning ; and in 
Permanent Way, including Road-bed, Sleepers, Rails, 
Joint- fastenings, Street Railways, &c, &c. By Alex- 
ander L. Holley, B. P. With 77 lithographed plates. 
1 vol. folio, cloth $12.00 

* * * "All these subjects are treated by the author in both an intelligent and intel- 
ligible manner. The facts and ideas are well arranged, and presented in a clear and sim- 
ple style, accompanied by beautiful engravings, and we presume the work will be re- 
garded as indispensable by all who are interested in a knowledge of the construction of 
railroads and rolling stock, or the working of locomotives."— Scientijic American. 

HUNT (R. M.) Designs for the Gateways of the Southern 
Entrances to the Central Park, By Richard M. Hunt. 
With a description of the designs. I vol 4to, illus- 
trated, cloth 5 . OO 

KING (W. H.) Lessons and Practical Notes on Steam, 
the Steam Engine, Propellers, &c, &c, for Young Ma- 
rine Engineers, Students, and others. By the late W. 
H. King, U. S. Navy. Revised by Chief Engineer J. 
W. King, U. S. Navy. Twelfth edition, enlarged. 8vo, 
cloth 2 . 00 

" This is the twelfth edition of a valuable work of the late TV. H. King, U. S. Navy. It 
contains lessons and practical notes on Steam and the Steam Engine, Propellers, &c. It is 
calculated to be of great use to young marine engineers, students, and others. The text 
is illustrated and explained by numerous diagrams and representations of machinery. 
This new edition has been revised and enlarged by Chief Engineer J. W. King, U. S. Navy, 
brother to the deceased author of the work." — Boston Daily Advertiser. 

McCORJKICK (R. C). Arizona : Its Resources and Pros- 
pects. By Hon. R. C. McCormick. With map, 8vo, 
paper 25 



D. VAN NOSTEAND'S PUBLICATIONS. 



MIUTFIE (Wm.) Mechanical Drawing. A Text-Book 
of Geometrical Drawing for the use of Mechanics and 
Schools, in which the Definitions and Rules of Geometry 
are familiarly explained ; the Practical Problems are ar- 
ranged, from the most simple to the more complex, and 
in their description technicalities are avoided as much 
as possible. With illustrations for Drawing Plans, Sec- 
tions, and Elevations of Buildings and Machinery; an 
Introduction to Isometrical Drawing, and an Essay on 
Linear Perspective and Shadows. Illustrated with over 
200 diagrams engraved on steel. By Wm. Minifie, 
Architect. Seventh Edition. With an Appendix on 
the Theory and Application of Colors. 1 vol. 8vo, 
cloth $4 . 00 

u It is the best work on Drawing that we have ever seen, and is especially a text-book 
of Geometrical Drawing for the use of Mechanics and Schools. No young Mechanic, such 
as a Machinist, Engineer, Cabinet-Maker, Millwright or Carpenter, should be without it." 
— Scientific American. 

" One of the most comprehensive works of the kind ever published, and cannot but 
Dossess great value to builders. The stylo is at once elegant and substantial." — Pennsyl- 
vania Inquirer. 

" We think this the best work on this subject, which is saying very much; as much at- 
tention has been given to the science of Drawing. There is nothing in the range of draw- 
ing that cannot be found in this book, and which is not well explained." — Ohio Teacher. 

1 ■ Whatever is said is rendered perfectly intelligible by remarkably well-executed dia- 
grams on steel, leaving nothing for mere vague supposition; and the addition of an intro- 
duction to isometrical drawing, linear perspective, and the projection of shadows, winding 
up with a useful index to technical terms." — Glasgow Mechanics' Journal. 

j$3» The British Government has authorized the use of this book in their schools of art 
at Somerset House, London, and throughout the Kingdom. 

MINIFIE (Wm.) Geometrical Drawing. Abridged from 
the Octavo edition, for the use of Schools. Illustrated 
with 48 steel plates. Fifth edition, 1 vol. 12 mo, half 
roan 1 . 50 

u It is well adapted as a text-book of drawing to be used in our High Schools and 
Academies where this useful branch of the fine arts has been hitherto too much neg- 
lected." — Boston Journal. 

5 



D. VAN NOSTBANJVS PUBLICATIONS. 



PIERCE (Prof. Benj.) System of Analytical Mechanics. 
Physical and Celestial Mechanics, by Benjamin Pierce, 
Perkins Professor of Astronomy and Mathematics in 
Harvard University, and Consulting Astronomer of the 
American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac. Developed 
in four systems of Analytical Mechanics, Celestial Me- 
chanics, Potential Physics, and Analytic Morphology. 
1 vol. 410, cloth $10. co 

"I have re-exarained the memoirs of the great geometers, and have striven to consoli- 
date their latest researches and their most exalted forms of- thought into a consistent and 
uniform tceatise. If I have hereby succeeded in opening to the students of my country a 
readier access to these choice jewels of intellect; if their brilliancy is not impaired in this 
attempt to reset them; if, in their own constellation, they illustrate each other, and con- 
centrate a stronger light upon the names of their discoverers; and, still more, if any gem 
which I may have presumed to add is not wholly lustreless in the co.lection, — I shall feel 
that my work has not been in vain." — Extract from the Preface. 

PLYMPTON. The Blow-Pipe ; a System of Instruction in 
its Practical Use, being a Graduated Course of Analy- 
sis for the Use of Students and all those engaged in the 
Examination of Metallic Combinations. Second edi- 
tion, with an appendix and a copious index. By Geo. 
W. Plympton, of the Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn, 
l vol. i2mo, cloth 2.0O 

POOK (S. M.) Method of Comparing the Lines and 
Draughting Vessels Propelled by Sail or Steam. In- 
cluding a chapter on Laying off on the Mould-Loft 
Floor. By Samuel M. Pook, Naval. Constructor. I 
vol. 8vo, with illustrations, cloth 5 .00 

11 Few men have had better opportunity to study the marine architecture of the past 
and present than Constructor Pook; and that the theories he has deduced from that study 
are correct ones, the fine ships built under his supervision at the government yards bear 
witness. . The book will be of interest to every shipwright whc looks higher than to the 
mere swinging of an axe."— Chronicle^ Portsmouth, 2V. H. 

ROGERS (H. D.) Geology of Pennsylvania. A complete 
Scientific Treatise on the Coal Formations. By Henry 
D. Rogers, Geologist. 3 vols. 4to, plates and maps. 

Boards 30 . 00 

6 



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RUSSELL (J. Scott). The Modern System of Naval Archi- 
tecture for Commerce and War. In Three Parts. Part 
I, Naval Design. Part 2, Practical Ship-Building. Part 
3, Steam Navigation. 1 vol. folio, 27 in. x 20 in., 724 
pp, text, and 2 vols, plates, 165 in all, and engraved on 
copper, varying in size from folio double elephant, 27 
in. x 20 in. to 27 in. x 90 in., and are drawn to a 

practical working scale. In Portfolio $60 . 00 

In half Russia, 3 vols 1 05 . 00 

SHAFFNER (T. P.) Telegraph Manual. A complete 
History and Description of the Semaphoric, Electric, 
and Magnetic Telegraphs of Europe, Asia, and Africa, 
with 625 illustrations.* By Tal. P. Shaffher, of Ken- 
tucky. New edition. 1 vol. 8vo, cloth, 850 pp. ... 6,50 

SILVERSMITH (Julius). A Practical Hand-Book for Mi- 
ners, Metallurgists, and Assayers, comprising the most 
recent improvements in the disintegration, amalgama- 
tion, smelting, and parting of the Precious Ores, with a 
Comprehensive Digest of the Mining Laws. Greatly 
augumented, revised, and corrected. By Julius Silver- 
smith. Fourth edition. Profusely illustrated. 1 vol. 
1 2mo, cloth 3 . 00 

" 'The Practical Hand-Book for Miners, Metallurgists, and Assayers,' by Mr. Julius 
Silversmith, a writer well known in connection with mining enterprises, forms a useful 
contribution to the scientific literature of the country. It will be found of equal value to 
those engaged in mining, either as actual workers, or as owners or shareholders in mining 
property. K gives a brief resume of the geology of metals, quite sufficient for practical 
purposes, and evidently gathered from the best authorities. It treats of mining in all rts 
branches, for ores and native metals, classifying the several kinds of veins and deposits, 
and herein exhibits the modes in use in the exploration of mines, tunnels, shafts, adits, 
galleries, &c, and the timbering of mines. This part of the book, as indeed most 
branches treated, is profusely illustrated by cuts, which must assist the ready compre- 
hension of the matter discussed. A summary of the chemistry and metallurgical treat- 
ment of metals follows, and after giving descriptions, accompanied by engravings, of a 
large number of the new processes and inventions for treating ores, especially those of the 
precious metals, the book concludes with an exposition of the mining laws of the Pacific 
States and Territories."— New York Herald. 

SILVER DISTRICTS OF NEVADA. 8vo, with map, 

P a per • • . • 35 



1>. VAN NOSTBAND'S PUBLICATIONS. 



SMEDBERG. A Synopsis of British Gas Lighting, compris- 
ing the essence of the London Journal of Gas Lighting, 
from 1849 to 1868. Arranged and executed by James 
R. Smedberg, C. E., Engineer of the San Francisco 
Gas Works. Issued only to subscribers. 4to, cloth. 
(Ready soon.) $15.00 

SPHERICAL ASTRONOMY. By F. Brunnow, Ph. Dr. 
Translated by the Author from the Second German 
edition. 1 vol. 8vo, cloth 6 . 50 

STILLM AN (Paul). Steam Engine Indicator, and the Im- 
proved Manometer Steam and Vacuum Gauges — their 
Utility and Application. By Paul Stillman. New- 
edition. 1 vol. i2mo, flexible cloth 1 .00 

" The purpose of this useful volume is to bring to the notice of the numerous class of 
those interested in the building and the use of steam engines, the economy and safety attend- 
ing the use of the instrument therein described. The Manometer has been long used — the 
inventor is Watt in a cruder form; and the forms herein described are patented by the 
author. The language of the author, the diagrams, and the scientific mode of treatment, 
recommend the book to the careful consideration of all who have engines in their care." — 
Boston Post. 

SWEET (S. H.) Special Report on Coal; showing its Dis- 
tribution, Classification, and cost delivered over different 
routes to various points in the State of New York, and 
rhe principal cities on the Atlantic Coast. By S. H. 
Sweet. With maps, 1 vol. 8vo, cloth 9 3.00 

STEWART (W. M.) The Mineral Resources of the Pacific 
States and Territories. By Hon. W. M. Stewart. 8vo, 
paper 25 

WALKER (W. H.) Screw Propulsion. Notes on Screw 
Propulsion, its Rise and History. By Capt. W. H. 
Walker, U. S. Navy. 1 vol. 8vo ; cloth 75 

11 After thoroughly demonstrating the efficiency of the screw, Mr. Walker proceeds to 
point out the various other points to be attended to in order to secure an efficient man-of- 
war, and eulogizes throughout the readiness of the British Admiralty to test every nov- 
elty calculated to give satisfactory results. * * * * Commander Walker's book con- 
tains an immense amount of concise practical data, and every item of information re- 
corded fully proves that the various points bearing upon it have been well considered 
previously to expressing an opinion."— Xowdon, Mining Journal. 

8 



D. VAN NOSTRANDS PUBLICATIONS. 

WARD (J. H.) Steam for the Million. A popular Trea- 
tise on Steam and its Application to the useful Arts, es- 
pecially to Navigation. By J. H. Ward, Commander 
U. S. Navy. New and revised edition, l vol. 8vo, 
cloth $ l . 00 

WEISBACH (Julius). Principles of the Mechanics of Ma- 
chinery and Engineering. By Dr. Julius Weisbach, of 
Freiburg. Translated from the last German edition. 
(In press.) 

WHILDEN (J- K.) On the Strength of Materials used in 
Engineering Constructions By J. K. Whilden. I vol. 
1 2mo, cloth 2 . oo 

u We find in this work tables of the tensile strength of timber, metals, stones, wire, 
rope, hempen cable, strength of thin cylinders of cast iron; modulus of elasticity, 
strength of thick cylinders, as cannon, &c, effects of reheating, etc., resistance of timber, 
metals, and stone to crushing; experiments on brick -work; strength of pillars, collapse of 
tube; experiments on punching aud shearing; the transverse strength of materials; beams 
of uniform strength; table of coefficients of timber, stone, and iron; relative strength of 
weight in cast-iron, transverse strength of alloys; experiments on wrought and cast-iron 
beams; lattice girders, trussed cast-iron girders; deflection of beams; torsional strength 
and torsional elasticity." — American Artisan. 

WHITNEY (J. P.) Colorado, in the United States of 
America. Schedule of Ores contributed by sundry 
persons to the Paris Universal Exposition of 1867, with 
some Information about the Region and its Resources. 
By J. P. Whitney, of Boston, Commissioner from the 
Territory. Pamphlet 8vo, with maps. London, 1867. 25 

Silver Mining Regions of Colorado, with some ac- 
count of the different processes now being introduced 
for working the Gold Ores of that Territory. By J. P. 
Whitney. 1 2mo, paper 25 

WILLIAMSON (R. 8.) On the Use of the Barometer on 
Surveys and Reconnaissances. Part I. Meteorology in 
its connection with Hypsometry. Part II. Barometric 
Hypsometry. By R. S. Williamson, Bvt. Lieut -Col. 
U. S. A., Major Corps of Engineers. With Illustra- 
tive Tables and Engravings. Paper No. 15, Profes- 
sional Papers, Corps of Engineers. 1 vol. 4to, cloth. 15.00 

9 
















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